Equity and Excellence

Part 1-World Forum Podcast

This week, I listened to World Forum Foundation Radio podcast Episode 9: Barbara Jones.  In this podcast, Ms. Jones describes her journey from college graduate to the owner of her own Montessori program.  She shares how her disillusionment with the public school system led to her discovery of the Montessori method.  She found that what she had learned in college was different from what she found in the public school system and so set out to search for something different.  After taking a job at a small Montessori program in southern California, she went to London to become certified in the Montessori method.  She then moved to the Maine where she worked for a private school for several years.  During this time, she had discovered an old school building that she thought would make a good location for her own program.  After several years of waiting, she was finally able to purchase the building and started Pine Grove Child Development Center which celebrated its 25^th anniversary.  Ms. Jones describes the beautiful original floors and large windows that overlook a large park preserve in which the school is located. 

This information in this podcast can be viewed from the perspective of equity and excellence.  Teacher education and experience and access are two factors addressed in several of the resources for this week.  When visiting the Pine Grove website, I discovered that all teachers at this school have a 4 year degree and are required to attend 40 hours of professional development training each year (The Pinegrove Center, n.d.a).  I also found that tuition for a full day (8:30-3:00) ranges from $1,227 to $1,316/month (The Pinegrove Center, n.d.b).  There are additional fees for before and after care.  Despite the fact that there are partial scholarships available, it is likely that this high quality program would be out of the reach of poor or even middle class families. 

I did try to make contact with Ms. Jones by email, but did not get a response from her. 

Part 2- Harvard Center for the Developing Child

According to the Center for the Developing Child, the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child is a multi-disciplinary, multi-university collaboration with the purpose of providing science and research information about early childhood and early brain development for the purpose of informing public decision-making.  The Council uses an evidence based approach to build consensus that “recognizes the complementary responsibilities of family, community, workplace, and government to promote the well-being of all young children” (Center for the Developing Child, 2012a, para 1)  Goals and strategies include

• ·      Bringing credible and accurate knowledge to bear on public decision-making that affects children’s learning, behavior, and health.
• ·      Rethinking the challenge of knowledge translation in order to strengthen its impact on the lives of children.
• ·      Building broad-based and informed leadership to represent the interests of young children in the public and private sectors.
• ·      Promoting a new national dialogue focused on rethinking the meaning of both shared responsibility for children and strategic investment in their future. (Center for the Developing Child, 2012a, para 3-6)

I learned that the Center for the Developing Child includes the Global Children’s Initiative that focuses on three domains: early childhood development; mental health; and children in crisis and conflict situations.  The Global Children’s Initiative is currently working on programs in several different countries.  From the information found on the Harvard Center for the Developing Child website about early learning systems around the world I learned that:

1.  There are significant gaps in the understanding of child mental health concerns and available services. Current efforts in this area include

• Assessing the state of child mental health services in Shanghai, China;
• Developing and evaluating family-based strategies to prevent mental health problems in children affected by HIV/AIDS in Rwanda; and
• Addressing child maltreatment and mental health outcomes in three Caribbean nations (Barbados, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname). (Center for the Developing Child, 2012b, para 5)

2.  Teacher training and education is a common issue.  Un Buen Comienzo (UBC), “A Good Start,” is a project in Santiago, Chile, with the intent to improve early childhood education through teacher professional development. This project also includes a focus on health, school attendance, social-emotional development and family involvement in their child’s education.

3.  Successful efforts to address early childhood issues should be multidisciplinary in nature and include an awareness of the culture and context of the community.  Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância, is an effort to use the science of child health and development to influence policies for and investment in young children and families in Brazil. This project includes strategies such as finding ways to “effectively communicate the science of child development in the Brazilian cultural context”, offering a course to inform policy makers about early childhood development and translating and adapting current resources for a Brazilian audience.  Like the project in Brazil, the efforts to address child mental health include an awareness of the need to “develop evidence-based approaches in policy and service delivery that are responsive to diverse cultural contexts” (Center for the Developing Child, 2012c, para 3)

Part 3- Reflection on Equity and Excellence

The information from the Center for the Developing Child and the World Forum Foundation Radio podcast illustrates several issues related to equity and excellence.  The Global Children’s Initiative is currently working address issues around the world much like those explored this week found in the United States. Teacher education, child mental health and the use of research and science to inform policy decisions related to early childhood education are common themes.  The World Forum Foundation podcast highlights the issues of teacher qualifications as it relates to program quality.  It also highlights the inequity of access. 

Reference

Center for the Developing Child. (2012a). About the council.  Retrieved March 29, 2012 from http://developingchild.harvard.edu

Center for the Developing Child. (2012b). Global children’s initiatives:  Activities.  Retrieved March 29, 2012 from http://developingchild.harvard.edu

Center for the Developing Child. (2012c). Applying the science of early childhood in Brazil.  Retrieved March 29, 2012 from http://developingchild.harvard.edu

Episode 9: Barbara Jones. [Audio podcast]. (2012). Retrieved March 30, 2012 from http://worldforumfoundation.org

The Pine Grove Center. (n.d.a). Faculty.  Retrieved March 30, 2012 from www.pinegrovecenter.com

The Pine Grove Center. (n.d.b). Tuition.  Retrieved March 30, 2012 from www.pinegrovecenter.com

National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) website contains vast amounts of information that focus on many different aspects of early care and education from assessments to economics and finance.  One of the specific sections that is most relevant to me is that of Quality and Curriculum.  Since I work almost exclusively with infants and toddler, I was interested in the policy brief Does Preschool Education Policy Impact Infant/Toddler Care?.  I often feel that infants and toddlers are overlooked when discussing issues of care and education and so was interested to find out more about this topic.

One of the articles that I found on the website that made me think about an issue in a new way was an interview that appeared in National Institute for Early Education Research publication Preschool Matters (2011) with General Norman Seip.  I had not considered how education and specifically early education might influence national security.   General Seip is a leader of Mission: Readiness, which advocates for improving the quality of and access to preschool education.   Mission:  Readiness came about as a way to address the issue of finding qualified individuals to staff the military.  Currently, 75 percent of 17- to 24-year-olds are ineligible for service in the Armed Forces due to lack of education or the inability to pass required reading and math exams.  Mission:  Readiness advocates for improving the quality of and access to preschool education as a way to combat the eligibility issues currently faced by the military. 

The NIEER website many briefs, publications, presentations and articles that focus specifically on the economics, politics and research aspects of early care and education.  One of the articles that I found on the website that gave me a better understanding of  how politicians support early education was How Policymakers Should Deal with the Delayed Benefits of Early Childhood Programs.  I found that the information in the working paper helped me have a better understanding of the perspective of policymakers and possible strategies for gaining their support for early care and education. 

Bartick (2009) attempts to answer the question of how to get policymakers to adopt programs that are socially beneficial but politically unattractive because their benefits are delayed.   Bartik (2009) looks at options such as program cost and increasing the awareness of short-term benefits. 

    By exploring the NIEER website, I was reminded of just how many issues and perspectives exist with regards to the field of early education.  The broad range of information available at this website shows how complex the issues are as well as how much research is now available that can be used for a number of purposes.   

References

Ackerman, D. J., & Barnett, W. S. (2009, March) Does preschool education policy impact infant/toddler care?  Issue 20.  Retrieved from

          http://nieer.org

Bartik, T. J. (2009). How policymakers should deal with the delayed benefits

           of early childhood programs.  Upjohn Institute Staff Working Paper 09-150.  Retrieved from http://www.upjohninstitute

National Institute for Early Education Research. (2011, March/April).  Retired Air Force General Norman R. Seip: Expanding High-Quality Pre-K is a Matter of National Security.  Preschool Matters. 9(1).

          Retrieved from http://nieer.org

Poverty

Podcast

I listened to several of the podcasts on the World d Forum Foundation Radio website.  The one most closely related to the topic of poverty was the podcast featuring Delfena Mitchell who founded Liberty Foundation an organization that provides  residential care and education for abused and abandoned children in Belize, Central America.  This organization was started in 2005 and in 2006 began providing a high quality preschool for the children in the community.  There are a number of reasons why Belize was chosen.  The website states that 39% of children in Belize live below the poverty line,

abuse and neglect are widespread and education for poor children is of poor quality and only 45% of children attend secondary school (http://www.libertyfoundation.org.uk).  In the podcast, Delfena Mitchell states that Belize has the highest incidence of abuse and neglect in Central America and goes on to describes the abuse and neglect that many children in Belize experience.  Belize has the highest incidence of abuse and neglect in Central America.  She shares the story of one child who had been a victim of abuse who had not talked for a year before coming to Liberty House.  Ms. Mitchell talks about the importance of allowing children time to heal when they first arrive. For this child, horseback riding, medication and gardening were factors that led to him eventually beginning to talk again.  I did try to contact Ms. Mitchell by email, but I did not get a response. 

References

Episode 3: Delfena Mitchell [Audio podcast]. (n.d.). Retrieved from World Forum Radio:  http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio/

Liberty Foundation (n. d.). Our story. Retrieved from http://www.libertyfoundation.org.uk

Poverty in China

For the second part of this week’s assignment, I visited the Poverty Research and Policy Centre website (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/).

The country that I chose to learn more about was China.  According to the Childhood Poverty and Research Centre, China has successfully reduced the poverty rate but that disparities between the eastern part and western part of the country remain.  Because the poverty line in China is low compared to international standards, it is assumed that there are many people living near the poverty line who are not accounted for in the statistics.  China’s unemployment rate is 14.3 %.  A Minimum Living Standards system is in place to provide assistance to poor families, but it currently only is available to those in urban areas.   While child poverty in China has decreased and the quality of life improved, recent studies have shown that health and education reforms have made it more difficult for poor families to access these resources. For example, one study in Beijing, China's richest city, “found that 75 per cent of poor families could not afford all children's education costs such as tuition fees and stationery costs, while 50 per cent of poor families in Shanghai had no medical insurance because they could not afford it” ( para   5).   

Three insights that I gained from exploring information about China on this website related to poverty are

1.  Factors related to poverty in China are similar as those in the United States such as education level, unemployment /inability to find a job, and low income. 

2.  There are many factors that influence the kinds and the extent of poverty in a country.  In China, the reasons for urban poverty can be traced to social reforms which eliminated many state jobs and the migration of people from rural areas to urban areas.  

3.  The education of their children is very important to poor families in China, despite the challenges associated with paying for it.  In the study by Wei, Benyon, & Mahe, 43% of poor parents in China reported that paying for children’s schooling was the  greatest challenge they faced and that this cost was the primary expense for most poor families.  The education system in China also has a negative impact on the education of poor children.  China has 2 types of schools-key and regular.  Key schools have better exam results, are more selective and are expensive than regular school which means that most poor children must attend regular schools Families who have moved from the rural areas to urban areas must also pay additional costs for their children to attend school, so children are often left behind to attend the rural schools. 

References

Childhood Poverty and Research Centre. (n.d.). Country overview: China.  Retrieved from

http://www.childhoodpoverty.org

Wei, Benyon, & Mahe. (2005). Poverty among children in urban China: a survey of poverty-affected families in three cities.  CHIP Report 14.  Retrieved from http://www.childhoodpoverty.org

Sharing Web Resources

The website that I chose to explore for this class is the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).  The link to this website is http://nieer.org

According to the NIEER website, the mission of NIEER is to conduct and communicate research to support high quality, effective, early childhood education for all young children and to offer independent research-based advice and technical assistance to policy makers, journalists, researchers, and educators.

I received my first newsletter from the NIEER website.  The newsletter contained a link to a blog dealing with “Privatizing” Pre-K.  The reason for the newsletter is a proposal by the North Carolina legislature to completely privatize all pre-K classrooms by the summer of 2013.  This would involve all pre-K classes being moved from the public schools to childcare centers.  The income eligibility for families would also decrease from $50,000 to $22, 000. This blog is written by the director of NIEER, Steve Barnett, who is concerned that such a move would result in “relegating the children most at risk of school failure to programs that will more closely resemble babysitting than anything that enables children to start school ready to learn” (Barnett, S. 2012, March 6,  para 2).   The co-chair of the committee that created the plan reports that privatization will help “shrink government”.  Barnett (2012) suggests that this type of action is an attempt to avoid paying for education for young children and for allowing legislatures to “funnel public funds to the religious and business organizations of their choice” (para 4).  Barnett (2012) ends by stating that public education is best suited to coordinate a comprehensive state system for early education.  Following the blog post are several replies some of which agree with Barnett and some that do not. 

The issue addressed in this NIEER newsletter is related to the issue of changing demographics and diversity.  The blog states that the children most at risk for school failure would be directly affected by the proposed legislation.   According to Fortuny, Hernandez & Chaudry (2010) North Carolina has seen a 578% increase in children ages 0-8 of immigrant parents between 2007 -2008.  It is likely that some of the children Barnett (2012) refers to as being most at risk for school failure are the children of immigrants and those who are linguistically and culturally diverse. 

The NIEER website has many resources that could be used to learn more about the topic of changing demographics and diversity and related issues such as dual language learning, as well as research about the benefits of pre-K programs for children. 

Barnett, S. (2012, March 6). "Privatizing" Pre-K Is About More than Saving Money.  [Blog message].  Retrieved from http://preschoolmatters.org

Fortuny, K., Hernandez, D. J., & Chaudry, A. (2010). Young children of immigrants: The leading edge of America's future (Brief No. 3). Retrieved from the Urban Institute website: http://www.urban.org

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

Part 1, Establishing Professional Contacts

I sent out over a dozen email requests in an attempt to find an early childhood professional working in another country, but so far have had no luck in getting a response from anyone.   Since I do not personally know anyone working in the field of early childhood in another country, I used several of the organizations and persons listed in the blog resource list.  I also used the participant list from the International Infant and Toddler Conference that I attended since there were several participants and presenters from outside of the United States there.   If I do not hear from anyone soon, I will choose to do the alternative assignment.   I have started to explore the World Forum Foundation Radio website and listed to one podcast.  While I am disappointed that I may need to choose the alternative assignment, t seems that this options will also be interesting. 

Part 2, Expanding Resources

I plan to explore the National Institute for Early Education Research website. I have signed up to receive the National Institute for Early Education Research newsletter.   I received the newsletters in the past and always found them to be interesting.  The main reason that I chose this website is that it focuses on research.  I believe that research plays such a significant role in informing and guiding all practice in the field of early childhood.  I try to stay informed about the latest research and I hope that exploring this website will offer opportunities to have access to information that I can use in this class, future classes and in my work.