Suchergebnisse

peer-reviewed ; This research applies the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scales/Revised and the Extension four Curricular Subscales (ECERS/R/E) in a systematic way to measure standards of pre-school provision in Ireland. This exploratory study is the first application of the scales in the Irish context. The evidence based data is analysed using both quantitative (ECERSR/E findings) and qualitative (Relational Pedagogy) approaches. In keeping with The National Children's Strategy (2000) this research uses a post-modern pedagogical analysis (Relational Pedagogy). In the strategy, the Irish State's policy emphasised post-modern pedagogical principles such as the ‗whole child perspective'. This recognises the capacity of children to interact with and shape the world around them. It regards the child as an advocate in his or her own learning and seeks to listen to the voice of the child is in keeping with EU and Nordic approaches. This philosophy (RP) guides new ECEC quality and curriculum frameworks, namely Síolta and Aistear and Regulation 5 in the 2007 revised Child Care (Pre-School Services) Regulations. These are in essence the new Irish pre-school standards, though not a curriculum and are soon to be implemented. Furthermore, qualitative phenomenological research was used to understand the ‗lived experience' of the pre-school practitioner. This method involved interviews and observations and informs the interpretation of the findings. The research population is small but significant, 26 pre-schools throughout Ireland. The findings reveal a minimal standard in many aspects of pedagogy. Pre-math and pre-science provision standards are inadequate. The title Parish Pedagogies comes about as the findings vary from Parish to Parish with no national standard evident. The parish as a unit of organisation is relevant as one third of the cohort have expanded through Parish support systems.

This paper organizes and synthesizes the literature on early childhood education and childcare. In it, we go beyond meta-analysis and reanalyze primary data sources in a common framework. We consider the evidence from means-tested demonstration programs, large-scale means-tested programs and universal programs without means testing. We discuss which programs are effective and whether, and for which populations, these programs should be subsidized by governments. The evidence from high-quality demonstration programs targeted toward disadvantaged children shows beneficial effects. Returns exceed costs, even accounting for the deadweight loss of collecting taxes. When proper policy counterfactuals are constructed, Head Start has beneficial effects on disadvantaged children compared to home alternatives. Universal programs benefit disadvantaged children.

Experiences during early childhood shape biological and psychological structures and functions in ways that affect health, well-being and productivity throughout the life course. The science of early childhood and its long-term consequences have generated political momentum to improve early childhood development and elevated action to country, regional and global levels. These advances have made it urgent that a framework, measurement tools and indicators to monitor progress globally and in countries are developed and sustained. We review progress in three areas of measurement contributing to these goals: the development of an index to allow country comparisons of young children's development that can easily be incorporated into ongoing national surveys; improvements in population-level assessments of young children at risk of poor early development; and the production of country profiles of determinants, drivers and coverage for early childhood development and services using currently available data in 91 countries. While advances in these three areas are encouraging, more investment is needed to standardise measurement tools, regularly collect country data at the population level, and improve country capacity to collect, interpret and use data relevant to monitoring progress in early childhood development.

Includes bibliographical reference. ; In 1998, the Missouri Legislature created the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund (HB1519). The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Social Services funded a three-year study that evaluated the development and care of children participating in programs across the state that were supported by HB1519 funds compared to children participating in programs that did not receive funding. Program quality was evaluated using the Infant-Toddler Environmental Rating Scale, the Family Daycare Environmental Rating Scale and the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised. Furthermore, the intellectual abilities of children who attended high quality programs were compared to the abilities of children who attended programs of lower quality using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities. ; Funded by the Missouri Department of Social Services and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.