Anyone who grew up with a Nintendo more than likely has memories of their parents telling them to stop playing before it rots your brain, the Vancouver Sun reports. We’re swapping stories at the table about what it was like as a kid growing up with video games, and everyone on the team has an experience that is similar to that old catechism. In the early days of gaming it was hard to see the potential for teaching games had, and they were certainly not associated with Early Childhood Education…
…Read MorePodcast Series: Innovations in Education
Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.
New study shows early learning helps prevent crime
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Early childhood skills pave way for later success
Advancements in digital media are helping young children use technology to develop important social and emotional skills as they enter school, and a new PBS Kids resource aims to give children the resources they need to improve those skills.
Social and emotional skills form a large part of a child’s learning foundation, and children are not going to be successful with academic content if they aren’t able to do self-regulatory things such as focus on a task, get along with others, and sit still, said Roberta Schomburg, an early childhood education expert and associate dean and director of Carlow University’s School of Education.
Preschool teachers spend much time helping children develop those self-regulating skills, and families can engage children in out-of-school activities to help them develop those skills, which also include problem-solving, self-confidence, and risk-taking.…Read More
Report sets forth early learning recommendations
A comprehensive alignment of preschool through third grade (P-3) education is critical in ensuring that children develop a solid foundation in literacy, math, and social-emotional skills, according to a new report that offers recommendations for high-quality P-3 initiatives.
“The Importance of Aligning Pre-K through 3rd Grade,” released by the Pre-K Coalition, which includes the American Association of School Administrators, American Federation of Teachers, Council of Chief State School Officers, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Education Association, and the National School Boards Association (NSBA), details best practices for improving early learning.
The report comes as the Obama administration has just awarded $500 million in Race to the Top funding to nine states to help make early learning programs more accessible and better capable of narrowing the achievement gap between those who start kindergarten without any formal schooling and those who do.…Read More
Utah schools chief urges investments in early childhood, technology
During his annual State of Education speech Oct. 6, state Superintendent Larry Shumway said Utah schools have achieved a lot with limited funding, but more money should be invested in areas such as early childhood education and technology to sustain and build upon schools’ success, reports the Salt Lake Tribune. “There will be unacceptable declines in the quality of education if we don’t provide the financial resources necessary to support our children in their schools,” Shumway said. He outlined four key areas for investment: early childhood education, expanded kindergarten, and support for early grades; technology; aligning curriculum to meet work force needs; and teacher ability. For example, he said, he plans to invite school districts and charter schools to apply for up to $50,000 for projects that demonstrate “innovative applications of technology.” He’ll use the results from pilot projects to make recommendations to lawmakers. State Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, called Shumway’s speech inspiring, saying he liked “that [Shumway] is asking for additional strategic investments, rather than the old method of just asking for a blanket increase in education funding.” But Kory Holdaway, government relations director for the Utah Education Association, said he didn’t think Shumway was direct enough on the need for more education funding. Holdaway pointed to a Utah Foundation report released last week, which showed that Utah students most often rank last on the National Assessment of Educational Progress when compared to states with similar ethnic makeups, parental education levels, and poverty rates…
…Read MoreBusiness group urges support for early childhood programs
The Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW), a nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has issued a new report called “Ready, Set, Go: How Business Should Support Early Childhood Education.” The report makes a compelling business case for why U.S. companies should invest in early childhood programs in their communities.
“Research shows that investments in high-quality early learning programs for children from birth to age five yield high returns, including increased earnings and decreased use of social services,” said Karen Elzey, vice president of ICW. “Achieving a world-class education system and creating a highly-skilled workforce begins with high-quality early learning opportunities.”
Interventions early in life have a higher rate of return than later interventions, the report says. It cites research showing gains among participants of early childhood programs so significant that “they have resulted in positive outcomes through adulthood.” Specifically, participants in early childhood education were less likely to be involved in criminal activity or be arrested; less likely to rely on social services, such as welfare; less likely to have children out of wedlock; and more likely than nonparticipants to earn more, own a home, or own a second car.…Read More
Fate of Early Learning Challenge Fund remains in doubt
Advocates of early childhood education continue to fight for a federal initiative that was intended to challenge states to develop effective, innovative models that promote early childhood programs.
The program, called the Early Learning Challenge Fund (ELCF), was authorized by Congress in September 2009 but was never funded.
Lawmakers had committed $8 billion for the program as part of a larger bill to overhaul college student aid, but in last-minute maneuvering designed to get the measure to pass in March, the $8 billion in ELCF funding was eliminated from the bill’s final version.…Read More
States slash early childhood programs as budgets bleed
States are cutting hundreds of millions from their early childhood education budgets, undermining years of working to help young children—particularly poor kids—get ready for school.
States are slashing nearly $350 million from their pre-kindergarten programs by next year, and more cuts are likely on the horizon once federal stimulus money dries up, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. The reductions mean fewer slots for children, teacher layoffs, and even fewer services for needy families who can’t afford high-quality private preschool programs.
One state—Arizona—has proposed eliminating its 5,500-child program entirely. Illinois cut $32 million from last fiscal year’s early childhood education budget and plans to slash another $48 million this year.…Read More
$20 billion in ed funding slashed from student aid legislation
In last-minute maneuvering designed to get the measure to pass, lawmakers eliminated $20 billion in proposed education funding from the student aid overhaul enacted by Congress last week—dampening enthusiasm for legislation that K-12 and higher-education officials had lobbied for over the past year. Of that $20 billion, $12 billion was slated for community colleges to boost graduation rates, partly through the development of open online courses, and $8 billion was pegged for an early-childhood education program.
Community college officials cheered the American Graduation Initiative (AGI) when lawmakers introduced the program last fall, but last-minute compromises and worries over the cost of the student aid bill forced legislators to eliminate the $12 billion set aside for AGI, observers said. The program aimed to help community colleges produce 5 million more graduates over the next decade.
AGI had included $500 million for an online skills laboratory modeled after Carnegie Mellon University’s Open Learning Initiative (OLI). The free, open internet classes were to be created by the Departments of Defense, Education, and Labor, according to a White House announcement.…Read More