Sharing Web Resources

 The organization I have been studying is the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). The most recent online e-newsletter covered many topics, including changes around the United States in ECE funding, the difference education of parents make to bilingual children’s school readiness, a summary of countries’ favorable conditions for mothers done by Save the Children, and news articles on budget cuts and education reform in various states, and op-ed pieces on the importance of early education in children’s success later in life.

The sections I found most applicable to my professional development were an article about making preschool a right for children, particularly those from disadvantaged homes. Some state Supreme Courts are directing that states provide quality education programs to children living in poverty, or requiring some state programs to improve their efforts in becoming high-quality. There were also links to resources, one of which was a report from the Center for American Progress that gives tips on teaching English Language Learners. I was very interested to read the section on the ranking of countries’ favorable conditions for mothers. The United States ranked 25^th on the mother’s index and 19^th on the children’s’ index across the globe. Maternal and child mortality rates are high, and the U.S. is said, in the report, to be “lagging behind with regard to preschool education and the political status of women. Performance in both areas places it among the bottom 10 in the developed world.” That definitely is something to be reflected upon and further researched! The report also states that the U.S. is the only developed country without guaranteed paid maternity leave. Prenatal care and family care are part of the early childhood field, and to read these things was a bit shocking. It leads me to thinking I need to learn more about our country’s health care system compared to others. For example, Norway and Iceland were ranked in the top 10. What do they do different? What benefits are seen from the differences? As far as articles that spoke towards politicians’ support of early childhood, that could be seen by an article discussing the Race to the Top grants given to states with high-quality early childhood programs. Grants such as these reflect the government’s support of early childhood care, as do rulings from state Supreme Courts requiring states to beef up the quality of programs. Unfortunately, these messages do not match up to the funding that education receives.

There were a variety of topics on the NIEER e-newsletter that covered issues in the early childhood field globally, nationally, and locally. NIEER also presented a range of types of information, from data and research to opinions, which were interesting to read.