State Early Learning and Development Standards: A Unified Curriculum Framework for All Young Children

2021 ◽  
pp. 027112142098113
Author(s):  
Mary Beth Bruder ◽  
Kelly E. Ferreira

Early learning and development standards (ELDS) describe the knowledge, skills, and dispositions young children should demonstrate before kindergarten. This article describes a review of state ELDS for children from birth to 5 years of age to determine if they included information and guidance about the learning needs of young children with developmental delays. A national search of ELDS located 79 documents that represented 53 U.S. states and territories. The review of the documents revealed that a majority of state ELDS had references to young children with developmental delays (89%), but statements and guidance describing specific accommodations for this population were not prevalent. Only two states had supplemental documents addressing the learning needs of young children with developmental delays to facilitate their inclusion in state ELDS. Implications of these findings and recommendations to facilitate the use of ELDS with all young children in inclusive early childhood programs and classrooms are discussed.

2001 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenda MacNaughton ◽  
Karina Davis

Current early childhood literature concerning anti-racist and multicultural education discusses the importance of adopting a curriculum framework to counter the development of prejudice and racism in young children. This article draws on two separate research projects in Victoria, Australia that explore how this might best be done. One project was concerned with exploring young children's understandings of indigenous Australians and their cultures and the other investigated teaching practices of a group of early childhood practitioners with indigenous Australians and their cultures. The results from these two projects are compared in order to explore some current issues in adopting curriculum frameworks that counter the development of prejudice and racism in young Anglo-Australian children towards Australia's indigenous peoples and cultures.


2019 ◽  
pp. 37-53
Author(s):  
Jane Hewes ◽  
Tricia Lirette ◽  
Lee Makovichuk ◽  
Rebekah McCarron

The shift toward a pedagogical foundation for professional practice in early childhood along with the introduction of curriculum frameworks in early learning and child care, calls for approaches to professional learning that move beyond transmission modes of learning towards engaged, localized, participatory models that encourage critical reflection and investigation of pedagogy within specific settings. In this paper, we describe ongoing participatory research that explores educator co-inquiry as an approach to animating a curriculum framework. A story of curriculum meaning making that opened a hopeful space for critical pedagogical reflection and changed practice serves as a basis for deeper reflection.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Urban

In this article, I discuss the International Early Learning and Child Well-being Study (IELS), which is currently being rolled out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. I summarise the development of IELS and the critique that has been voiced by early childhood scholars, professionals and advocates. I then move to an aspect of IELS that has so far been absent from the discussion: the actual conduct of the test, using the two stylised child characters Tom and Mia. I provide a provisional reading of the Tom and Mia imaginary through the lens of post-colonial and neo-colonial analysis. Applying the concept of colonisation as a frame of reference opens a space for introducing resistance and anti-colonial practices as productive forces to challenge the global hegemony. I draw on Pedro Sotolongo’s concept of the power of marginal notions to argue that experiences made on the margins of society, both geographically and socially, offer very practical alternatives to reconceptualising early childhood education, and services for young children, families and communities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Keys Adair

In this essay, Jennifer Keys Adair aims to clarify the concept of agency as a tool for improving the educational experiences of young children in the early grades. She conceptualizes agency in the context of schooling as the ability to influence what and how something is learned in order to expand capabilities, drawing on economic theories of human development, agency, and capability as they might be applied to early learning in schools. An understanding of early childhood education aimed at expanding children's capabilities stands in contrast to the currently prevalent emphasis on preparing children for the knowledge and skills tested in elementary grades. Through her classroom-based examples of student agency and her call to bring cultural and varied perspectives into the discussion, Adair hopes to encourage dynamic, agentic learning experiences for all children, not just those of privilege.


Author(s):  
Alexandru Spatariu ◽  
Andrea Peach ◽  
Susan Bell

Children are exposed to technology in many ways. As technology use in informal settings like the home, the community, the library, the zoos, and museums increases, children are exposed to a variety of applications and technology availability. Each generation of children come to early childhood programs with increasingly different experiences and exposure to technology. Technology has become a strong cultural influence in the lives of children, and we need to explore and think about how this will impact development and learning.


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