Saturday, April 25, 2015

Final Blog Post EDUC 6162



Positive Outcomes of Learning about the International Early Childhood Field

One positive outcome of learning about the early childhood field in other countries is the wealth of ideas received for improving our own system here in the United States.  Learning about Scandinavian countries such as Iceland and Finland, motivates me to advocate at the state and national levels to change our system to provide equitable and low-cost preschool programs for all children.  It also inspires me to advocate for equitable education for early childhood and all educators to the point where they are trusted to provide the appropriate curriculum without constant oversight from standardized tests and rules and mandates.

A second positive outcome was my personal enrichment by learning about another working mother in another country.  Nura of Iceland shares the experience of being motivated by her own family situation to make certain choices in her professional life.  It is inspiring to realize the shared experiences, joys and challenges I share with women around the world.

A third outcome is the future opportunity I may have to expand my influence to other countries.  I want to have a positive effect on poverty and education in my community.  Through the connections I have made and the resources I have found around the world, I may one day be able to make a change for poverty and education in other countries.  My goal is to do just that!


Saturday, April 11, 2015

Sharing Web Resources 2



Sharing Web Resources 2
This week I took a closer look at the website for the National Institute for Early Educational Research. (www.nieer.org)  I like the way the home page is set up.  On the left there are “buttons” to click on to access 12 different categories of research.  On the right there are links to the latest news events.
The News article I chose to focus on was “Senate’s effort to rewrite NCLB sparks cautious optimism”.  The No Child Left Behind act of 2002 has been criticized for penalizing schools who do not ensure all children are proficient in math and reading by 2014.  Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) have written what is being called the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015.  The new proposed legislation maintains the Obama administration priority of maintaining annual standardized testing to track schools’ effectiveness.  However, it also reduces the federal role in education, allowing states to invest in what works with their unique populations of students.  I share the optimism that this act would be beneficial in allowing states and individual communities to address the inequities found in their areas and create programs to address their unique challenges.
Since one of our topics this week is inequity of access, I clicked on the “access” button under the list of research topics.   I found an article called “Trends in state funded preschool programs: Survey findings from 2001-2002 to 2011-2012.” It contains the following statement: This policy report, co-released by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) and the Center on Enhancing Early Learning Outcomes (CEELO), discusses trends in enrollment, funding, and quality standards, as well as English Language Learner and Special Education students, in state-funded pre-K between 2001-2002 and 2011-2012.
NIEER has tracked the policies of state-funded preschool programs through its State Preschool Yearbook from the 2001-2002 through the 2011-2012 school year. The Yearbook has collected information on enrollment, funding, and quality standards, as well as enrollment of English Language Learners and Special Education students in state-funded pre-K. 
Key findings from the report:
  • Enrollment increased dramatically for 4-year-olds over the decade, but funding did not keep pace. State expenditure per child fell by more than $1,100, adjusting for inflation.
  • Variability across the states is extreme. Ten states do not fund pre-K. Among those that do fund pre-K, enrollment, standards, and funding differ dramatically. Without federal action these interstate inequalities are likely to persist.
  • States have far less detailed data available to inform policy regarding their preschool programs and the children they serve than they do for K-12 education. For example, many states cannot report total funding for programs, including the contributions of the local schools, or breakdown enrollment by ethnicity, home language, or family income.
This report also provides recommendations for the next decade of state-funded pre-K development. (Barnett, 2015)
There is a plethora of information on the NIEER website.  I look forward to spending many more hours accessing this website.  I also signed up for a newsletter and hope to receive it soon.
References
Barnett, W.S. & Carolan, M.E. (2015) Trends in state funded preschool programs:  Survey findings from 2001-2002 to 2011-2012.  Retrieved from http://nieer.org/research/access?page=1.
Brown, E. (2015) Senate’s effort to rewrite NCLB sparks cautious optimism. Retrieved from http://nieer.org/news-events/early-education-news/senate’s-effort-rewrite-nclb-sparks-cautious-optimism on April 8, 2015.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Getting to know our international contacts, Part 2



Getting to know my international contact, Nura of Iceland, Part 2

I am finding the communication with someone from such a different country challenging.  I described to Nura the NAEYC accreditation and Step Up to Quality evaluation processes that my center has gone through.  She didn’t know of anything like that in Iceland.  In Iceland, the preschools are set up by the government and everyone already follows the same policies and curriculum so there is not a focus on verifying quality. I decided to ask her more questions about herself instead, drawing on the great questions my colleague, Taina Roman, shared in her previous blog.

Why did you go into Early Childhood Education and why are you passionate about this field?  Nura said she began working in the preschool as a teacher’s aide.  When her first child was born with a learning disability, she became passionate about learning more about the Icelandic education system.  She was born in Singapore so she was just learning about it as an adult.  When her second child was 4 months old she entered college to achieve her degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of Iceland.

Please describe a rewarding experience that you had with a child or family.  Nura said she understood what powerful relationships she had built over the years with colleagues and families when she faced breast cancer.  The support she received was overwhelming.  She even received well-wishes from former students she had 14 years ago who were now graduated from high school.  She is grateful for the on-going communication and sense of community that is felt within her school.

What are some hardships that you have experienced working with families, children and other Early Childhood Professionals that helped you grow professionally?  Nura said when there is a language barrier it is hard to communicate well enough with families to get them involved in the school.  She is fortunate to speak both English and Icelandic so this helps.  But they have families from Morocco, Vietnam, France and Poland in their school.  They are able to hire interpreters to help during parent-teacher conferences. She and her colleague have been chosen to lead a multicultural project in their school to encourage families to share more about their unique cultures in their children’s classrooms.  She is very excited about that. I will be very interested to hear what she and her colleague come up with.