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The website I am following, the National Institute for Early
Education Research, has many different links covering a variety of early
education topics. There were not many obvious outside links in NIEER, however
many of their research and articles are from other organizations, such as the
National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and news articles
from various magazines, journals, and newspapers.
I did look into an area of the site dedicated to English
Language Learners, and found many different research articles, publications and
presentations. There were technical reports on the reading and math
trajectories of English language learners in elementary school, comparisons of
dual-language and mono-language immersion programs in preschools
(interestingly, both approaches resulted in academic gains, though the
dual-language immersion produced gains in English and Spanish vocabulary). I
could have spent hours on this section alone, and will use this as a reference
in the future, I can already tell!
I also looked into a power-point presentation titled,
“Hispanics, Language and Immigration: Gaps in the Early Years” and was
interested to read that Hispanic children with English-speaking background
(such as a parent who speaks English) is likely to have small achievement gaps
when beginning school, and maintain small gaps, while those coming from
non-English backgrounds and immigrant families start out with large achievement
gaps which are reduced over time. Both groups are generally stronger in the
area of reading than math. The implications of these findings are to push for
policies that support high quality preschool programs and the use of
dual-language programs to support children from both these groups- both ways to
increase equity and excellence in early education.
The e-newsletter from NIEER also had relevant links to the
issues we have been studying- particularly the availability of preschool for
those in need. NIEER linked to an article on the “Bloomberg BusinessWeek”
website that discussed Michigan’s need for more preschools to serve at-risk
children, as currently about half of 4-year olds who qualify for preschool
services do not have a space in a preschool classroom. And who is pushing
policymakers to fund more preschool? Business owners and organizations. This
coalition is pressing the state to use alternative funding measures, such as
earmarking future tax dollars and prioritizing funds that already exist to
include supporting preschoolers, as these businesses and organizations are realizing
the need for preparing children academically and supporting healthy growth and
development as essential for their future success in school and adult life. It
was encouraging to read about actions that are taking place after so much
research and suggestions about what policymakers should be doing.
What I like about NIEER is the wide net they cast when
covering topics in the early childhood education field. There are opinion
pieces, research pieces, and news articles, all well organized on the website,
so it is easy to find research relevant to issues we are studying week by week,
class by class.
Caroline,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I have to be honest, research is not my favorite thing, however, the organization you have been studying seems to have a lot of useful information. I was drawn to the information about Michigan as I used to live there. It was interesting to read about my home state and see what needs to be worked on. I agree with you that it is great to action after reading so many suggestions. Thanks for sharing!
Caroline, I was, also, interesting in reading about Michigan’s attempt to serve the needs of at-risk children. Better late than never. The more that I read and learn, the more convinced I am that there is an enormous population of children who are neglected of an early childhood education because of lack of funding, space, or knowledge on the part of the family. The fact Michigan is talking about prioritizing spending money on supporting young children demonstrates their dedication to a cause we have supported for a long time!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I found the NIEER website to be an outstanding source for information. I had never heard of it before, but I find myself searching its contents on more than one instance. I told you we think alike. Thanks for sharing.
Caroline, after reading your post, I think I will go and explore more in NIEER. It seems that they have many good things about early years education. I agree that high quality pre-school education is important for children's later school life. I also read an article about serving children who suffer from violence, natural disasters. I do believe we need to do more services to help those children. They have the right to be educated in a right way. Thanks for sharing.
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