Entries for the 'News' Category

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - Orlando Sentinel
Research is inarguable: The best-trained teachers deliver the best results. Needy early learners often already are at least a step behind. By kindergarten, many are so far behind they never catch up — and eventually drop out.  Quality early learning programs produce different results.

Mar 27, 2012 - Education Week
Concerns about early literacy skills are justified because reading skills at kindergarten entry predict later academic achievement. But guess what predicts later academic success better than early reading? Early math skills.

February 9, 2012 - Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, Howell, MI
Literacy experts agree that reading aloud to your child from an early age is the single best way to prepare him or her to learn to read. Those good reading skills will provide the foundation for acquiring other knowledge later on.

January 2012 - Developmental Psychology
This month Developmental Psychology published results from a follow-up study with the participants of the 1970s Abecedarian Project, which involved children from low-income families being randomly assigned to receive a early childhood education intervention or not. Conducted by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the new study examined outcomes at age 30 from 101 of the 111 children in the original project. Those who had attended preschool were four times more likely to have college degrees and be consistently employed full-time. They were also less likely to need public assistance.

January 7, 2012 - New York Times
Perhaps the most widespread peril children face isn't guns, swimming pools or speeding cars.  Rather, scientists are suggesting that it may be "toxic stress" early in life, or even before birth.

November 20, 2011 - The Atlantic
As reported in The Atlantic, small recent study found that preschool children with the poorest language skills improved their language skills when in average-ability classes, compared to peers who were in low-ability classrooms. These findings on peer effects are important evidence for the continued need for universal prekindergarten, rather than providing targeted services only to students with risk factors.

March 4, 2011 — MotherJones.com
Persistent, lifelong achievement gaps in children have proven difficult to close even with high-quality schooling. Could investing more in intensive early intervention services be the key?

February 8, 2011 — New York Times
A recent review found that 10 major social programs had been rigorously evaluated over the past two decades, using the scientific gold standard of random assignment. Only one of the 10 — Early Head Start, for infants, toddlers pregnant women — was a clear success.

February 3, 2011 — USA Today
Investing in early childhood education can yield impressive economic benefits — both for children and taxpayers, according to a National Institutes of Health study that followed participants until age 26.

January 9, 2011 — Science Daily
Babies, even those too young to talk, can understand many of the words that adults are saying, and their brains process them in a grown-up way.

November 16, 2010 — Eye on Early Education
A letter by economist James Heckman that was recently sent to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Reform urges the commission and other leaders to invest in high-quality early education to protect our country’s future.

November 15 2010 — Chicago Tribune
Latino children in Illinois are half as likely as their white and African-American peers to be enrolled in a preschool program.

October 8, 2010 — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
While learning shapes and letters is important to a child’s development, many educators say that playtime is equally essential for young children.

September 10, 2010 — The Portland Press Herald
A new report from the business group, America’s Edge, shows that most employers do not believe their entry level employees are ready for the workplace. To combat this problem, many business leaders support investing in early childhood education.

August 25, 2010 — Washington Post
James Heckman talks about the economic impacts of investing in early childhood education.

May 14, 2010 — Washington Post
A study, which has been ongoing since 1991, shows a small but significant difference between teenagers who had high-quality child care and those who did not.

April 7, 2010 — Military.com

The U.S. Military is planning an expansion of its child care program to provide services to more children and families.

March 24, 2010 — The Sun Herald
A new Educare center funded by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund along with a number of other national and local partners is scheduled to break ground this summer in Washington, D.C.

March 15, 2010 — L.A. Times
Evidence indicates that a parent’s mental wellbeing can have significant affects on their children’s future mental health.

March 11, 2010 — the Tennessean

A recent study released in Tennessee finds that the state’s pre-K programs are most effective for children from poorer families.

February 22, 2010 — AFP
Recent studies have shown that children who are born into poverty are likely to live in poverty as adults as well.

February 22, 2010 — Health Day News

Researchers at the University of Arizona have found that daytime naps can be important to learning in babies.

February 12, 2010 — Change.org
A recent study has found that gaps in child development are measurable in children as young as nine months old, and that the gap is even larger by 24 months.

January 6, 2010 — Time
Learn more about the new science called epigenetics.

January 5, 2010 — Time
Recent studies have shown that strong negative experiences early in life have a profound effect on a child’s future physical and mental health.

January 5, 2010 — Science Daily
Young women whose parents participated in home visiting programs were far less likely to be convicted of a crime than their peers who did not receive the services according to a recent study.

December 30, 2009 — Providence Journal

A premature birth can have lifelong affects on a child, but recent data indicates that home visiting and a prenatal support programs may have a significant impact in reducing early births.

December 2009 — The Atlantic
Recent genetic research theorizes that given the right environment, at risk children can be some of society’s most creative and productive individuals.

September 15, 2009 —
 Science Daily

A new study shows that children 1-year-old and younger who were spanked, exhibit more aggressive behavior and have slower cognitive development than their peers.

September 21, 2009
 — Science Daily

Young children may be learning less from education television programs than we think.