Early Childhood Policy Research Articles

Queering Child/Hood Policies: Canadian Examples and Perspectives

This article examines how notions of ‘child’ and ‘childhood’ are produced in relation to recent early childhood policies in Ontario, Canada. It centers on an ongoing shift from Foucauldian disciplinary societies to Deleuzian control societies where it is argued that early childhood subjects (researchers, students, educators, administrators, and parents) are becoming less confined to specific spaces and tasks and are more controlled by the flows of knowledge, information, and communication. Current public policy debates are used to explore how early childhood education (ece) is becoming increasingly aligned with neoliberal calls for privatization, corporatization, and marketization. For instance, evidence-based practices and quality control indicators are quickly replacing developmental norms that have traditionally normalized and abnormalized children. The consequences of these transformations are examined using queer theory as a critical lens to explore how the identities of ECE subjects are deeply implicated in social, cultural, political, and economic factors — influences that are changing as a result of the shift from discipline to control.

How evidence can be used to inform policy: A case study of early childhood evidence-based policy development

Albeit science is clear in its support for early childhood, the developmental outcomes for young children, globally, are poor. It is hypothesized that evidence-based policies may be a potential mediator of the application of science to improve the lives and well-being of young children. However, the question arises — at what stage of policy formulation can evidence be infused into the process? The aim of the present study was to test the applicability of the infusion of evidence into the very initial stages of policy development by using a systematic analytical approach. A policy analysis and review protocol, generated from the early childhood and social policy science literatures, was applied to the early childhood (ECD) policy formulation for Lao PDR. The results of the analysis indicated, that while several certain aspects of ECD are addressed in the country, notable gaps need to be addressed. The analysis resulted in a set of recommendations to inform the subsequent stage of policy development. The application of this analytical methodology to use evidence to inform policy, the advantages, challenges and issues for further consideration are discussed in this paper.

Regional early childhood policy review

The UNESCO-UNICEF joint regional policy review project was launched in September 2006 with the aim to support the countries of Asia-Pacific region in meeting the first goal of Education For All (EFA) on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) by identifying, documenting and sharing good practices as well as constraints and challenges in early childhood policy development and implementation. To this joint call for a policy review initiative, nine countries of the Asia-Pacific region responded, namely, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Viet Nam. The specific project goals were:

Working On the Impossible

This article discusses the complexities of aid-giving using the example of early childhood policies in Namibia. It supports a critical view of aid processes and of World Bank endeavours in particular. Using an analysis of the World Bank funded education sector-wide improvement plan (ETSIP) in Namibia and three Namibian local case studies, it shows how the local circumstances of young children and their parents are ignored in order to fit in with donor preconceptions, and how senior officials come to adopt those views. It argues that universally derived policies on early childhood development are misapplied, and poverty and inequality are ignored in the search for technocratic solutions.

A Multivariate Investigation of Maternal Risks and Their Relationship to Low-Income, Preschool Children's Competencies

Utilizing a developmental-ecological framework, the purpose of this study was to understand the unique impact of multiple maternal risks across time on ethnically diverse, low-income, preschool children's cognitive skills, pro-social behaviors, and behavior problems. Additionally, this study sought to understand the variability of maternal risks within a low-income population. Data from the national impact evaluation of the Comprehensive Child Development Program (CCDP) was used (N = 3,852). Variable-centered analyses demonstrated that maternal education accounted for the most variance in children's cognitive outcomes, whereas chronicity of maternal depression accounted for the most variance in children's pro-social and problem behaviors. Person-centered analyses revealed eight distinct profiles of maternal risks, demonstrating the heterogeneity of this low-income population. Further, these profiles related differentially to children's preschool skills, indicating that different combinations of maternal risks were associated with varying outcomes for young children. Implications of study findings for early childhood practice, policy, and future research are discussed.

Conceptions of US and Brazilian early childhood care and education: A historical and comparative analysis

Children's first years of life are fundamental for healthy development. Appropriate care and education in the early years are far more useful than dealing with later problems, and in both the United States and Brazil scholars and public-policy makers have argued that the goal should be an integrated system of care and education. Using a cultural—historical framework to understand early childhood policies in the United States and Brazil, we examine how notions of care and education have changed over time. We show that although the two societies have the same goal, the approaches to realizing that goal have been, for historical reasons, quite different. Moreover, despite a rapid growth in the numbers of children attending preschool institutions, integrated systems have not been accomplished. Our analysis also shows how the legacy of a dichotomous approach in both societies has impeded the integration of care and education into a single system.

Effectiveness of emotion recognition training for young children with developmental delays.

Recently, early childhood educators and policy makers have placed an increased emphasis on assessing emotional development in young children who are considered educationally at-risk. (Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Children, Youth, and Families/Head Start Bureau, 2000). The desire to assess emotional development is not surprising given that children's skill in understanding others' emotions appears closely tied to their ability to establish and maintain positive social relationships with others in the school years and throughout life. Specifically, researchers have found that young children who have better developed emotion recognition and emotional perspective-taking abilities demonstrate higher levels of prosocial behavior and are more popular with their peers (Denham, 1986; Denham, McKinley, Couchoud, & Holt, 1990; Leppanen & Hietanen, 2001). Other research has linked emotion recognition and understanding with high levels of pretend play and behavioral and emotional competence with peers (Carlo, Knight, Eisenberg, & Rotenberg, 1991; Lindsey & Colwell, 2003). In contrast, children who are poor at emotion recognition and emotional perspective-taking are at increased risk of being disliked by their peers (Denham et al.; Leppanen & Hietanen, 2001), are rated by teachers as being more socially withdrawn (Strand, Cerna, & Downs, in press), and are at risk for the numerous negative educational and psychosocial outcomes long known to be associated with peer rejection (Asher & Wheeler, 1985; Asher & Coie, 1990; Ladd, 1990). Although results such as these have suggested that emotion understanding in general, and emotion recognition in particular, are important developmental variables, there is limited information available regarding the effectiveness of attempts to manipulate emotion recognition skill in individuals who have disabilities. Research with adults has generally indicated that interventions can successfully improve the emotion recognition ability of those who have learning disabilities, (McKenzie, Matheson, McKaskie, Hamilton, & Murray, 2000), intellectual disabilities (McAlpine, Singh, Ellis, & Kendall, 1992; Rydin-Owen, Drake, & Bratt, 1999), high-functioning autism (Bolte, Hubl, Feineis-Matthews, Dierks, & Poutska, 2006), or acquired brain injury (Guercio, Podolska-Schroeder, & Rehfeldt, 2004). However, studies focused on children have been less consistent. For example, Dyck and Denver (2003) reported no improvements in emotion recognition skill for deaf children exposed to an 11-lesson psychoeducational program. In contrast, Stewart and Singh (1995) found that teaching via directed rehearsal led to significant gains in basic emotion recognition skill in a study of boys with mental retardation. Emotion recognition has long been thought to be impaired in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; Hobson, Ouston, & Lee, 1989), so it is not surprising that some researchers have examined the effectiveness of emotion recognition training with this population. As has been the case in children with other disabilities, the results have been equivocal. Using a computer training program, LaCava, Golan, Baron-Cohen, and Myles (2007) found significant gains in emotion recognition skill in children with ASD. However, Silver and Oakes (2001) reported that computer training did not lead to significant emotion recognition gains in adolescents with ASD compared to controls. Other research has shown that children with autism exposed to behavioral interventions may develop advanced emotion understanding abilities (e.g., the understanding of desire-based emotions in others) but may still have difficulties with basic emotion recognition (Downs & Smith, 2004). It is interesting to note that none of the studies cited above attempted to teach emotion recognition skills to preschoolers, even though the developmental literature suggests that the preschool years are typically a time of significant growth in this ability (Denham, 1998). …

History Matters: United States Policy and Indigenous Early Childhood Intervention

This article discusses the degree to which early childhood practitioners in the United States attend to cultural differences and social injustice in their pedagogy, with a particular reference to indigenous peoples. The article has three major sections. The first describes an indigenous perspective regarding ‘improvement’ and ‘quality’ with respect to early childhood programs. Included is a review of United States policy developments regarding indigenous peoples (including an examination of relevant aspects of the Bureau of Indian Affairs) and a discussion of the impact of those policies on indigenous families. The second section discusses the impact of contemporary early childhood policies and practices on indigenous communities. The third section is a review of the dominant research literature and theoretical beliefs.

W(H)Ither the Early Childhood Teacher: Tensions for Early Childhood Professional Identity between the Policy Landscape and the Politics of Teacher Regulation

Over the last decade teachers, teachers' work and teacher education across all domains of education have been subject to increasing surveillance and regulation. Recent developments in the Australian regulatory context are signalling the emergence of a strengthening bifurcation between prior-to-school and schooling contexts that is forcing a narrowing construction of ‘teaching’ as work that is only undertaken in schooling contexts. This trend seems likely to have serious implications for the professional identity, status and professional preparation of early childhood teachers and the potential to reposition early childhood contexts as marginalised and non-pedagogical spaces. This article traces some recent developments in teacher regulation and locates an analysis of possible implications for the field of early childhood against a backdrop of emerging trends in the early childhood policy landscape. The emerging tensions invite questions about the potential gains and losses should the current trends become entrenched. The article concludes with a consideration of naming and framing as elements of possible action.

Pedagogical Silences in Australian Early Childhood Social Policy

Growing international interest in the early childhood years has been accompanied by an expansion of public programs in Australia targeting young children and their families. This article explores some of the influences and rhetoric that frame these initiatives. It encourages critical examination of the discourses that shape the nature of early childhood programs in Australia and identifies a range of barriers that inhibit the involvement of early childhood teachers in the design and delivery of social policy initiatives for young children. As the imperatives of programs seeking to overcome social disadvantage take prominence in Australian early childhood policy initiatives, pedagogical perspectives that promote universal rights to more comprehensive early childhood experiences can easily be silenced. The article calls for pedagogical leadership to overcome these barriers and promote the democratic rights of all children to high-quality and publicly supported early childhood education and care programs.

Early Childhood Activism, Minor Politics and Resuscitating Vision: A Tentative Foray into the Use of ‘Intersections' to Influence Early Childhood Policy

Many postmodern and post-structural analyses of government policies affecting early childhood education stress the hegemonic nature of neo-liberalism and subsequently primarily focus upon identifying the manifestation of neo-liberal values in such interventions. An unintended and stultifying consequence of such analyses is, at times, to close off the possibilities of envisioning a positive engagement with, and role for, government policy. In addition, the primacy offered to localised knowledges can engender the development of policy responses which are not cognisant of more broadly based social impacts. In response, the authors proffer the use of intersections as key points for the development of analyses and action. This necessitates an active awareness of the ways in which local knowledges and experiences cross, or overlay, information generated from other sites, including disciplinary knowledges and analyses that may be classified as modernist. By utilising points of convergence, as well as understanding points of divergence, intersections can be used to open up spaces for political action that recognise and generate localised responses, whilst at the same time engendering policy that enables more broadly based social justice.

(Re)Positioning the Child in the Policy/Politics of Early Childhood

How a community constructs the notion of childhood and the child is fundamentally implicated in the practices and policies of that community. This article explores the positioning of the child in historical, contemporary and emerging trends in the provision and practices of Australian early childhood education and care. It argues that if left uncontested, emerging contemporary constructions have the potential to normalise policies, practices and pedagogies derived from a commercialised view of childhood. Drawing on the experiences and practices of early childhood pedagogues and policy actors both in Australia and overseas the authors posit an alternative construction of the child as citizen and the possibility of the early childhood field as a site for the practice of democracy.

Children’s risk‐taking behaviour: implications for early childhood policy and practice

The safety of children as they learn and develop is of prime concern for parents, teachers and legislators alike. Legislation governing the provision of early childhood services provides guidelines and procedures for reducing the likelihood of children being exposed to injuries and unsafe environments. Such strategies, however, only take account of aspects of the physical environment that can be manipulated to ensure the safety of children and do not consider those aspects of the individual child’s behaviour that may contribute to unintentional injury. One such factor is children’s risk‐taking behaviour. The paper presents a critical review of current risk‐taking literature. Components of risk taking, including sensation seeking and optimism bias, and contributory factors such as gender, temperament, and parent socialization practices are examined in light of the current legislative and accountability documents relating to the provision of early childhood services in the Australian state of New South Wales. The aim is to explore the role that these factors play in reducing children’s exposure to risk and to identify directions for future research.

Comparative benefit–cost analysis of the Abecedarian program and its policy implications

Child care and education are to some extent joint products of preschool programs, but public policy and research frequently approach these two goals independently. We present a benefit–cost analysis of a preschool program that provided intensive education during full-day child care. Data were obtained from a randomized trial with longitudinal follow-up through age 21. Study participants were 104 economically disadvantaged children and their families. Economic benefits include increased maternal earnings, decreased K-12 schooling costs, increased lifetime earnings and decreased costs related to smoking. Net present value is positive over a range of reasonable discount rates. Program benefits are compared to estimates from other studies with particular attention to a benefit–cost analysis of a half-day preschool program that did not provide child care. Returns to early childhood policy could be improved by greater attention to how programs might maximize education and child care benefits together regardless of the primary aim of the policy's agency sponsor.

Watching for Evolutionary Patterns

WATCHING the thousands of sandhill cranes that stop over as part of their annual migration triggers an appreciation for the impressive patterns that occur in nature. Year after year, these marvelous birds pause to rest and feed in the San Luis Valley--a high plains area near the mountain towns of Alamosa and Monte Vista, Colorado. The cranes pass through at the same time every year and rest in the same fields. They leave as regularly as they arrive. Patterns in education are not always so clear, but they do exist, as the following sampling of recently emerging trends in education policy demonstrates. PATTERNS OF EARLY learning ACTIVITY The enactment of a new law in South Dakota places it among an increasing number of states (15)--plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands--that now require students to attend at least half-day kindergarten. A longer established pattern now exists in 86% of states, which require districts to offer kindergarten. The South Dakota legislature acted quickly to pass a bill at Gov. Mike Round's request. According to Mimi Howard, early learning program director for the Education Commission of the States, this year, governors are taking a strong leadership role with regard to early learning. Howard's examination of stateof-the-state messages found some governors moving to expand and enhance the programming already in place, while others addressed new areas that need attention. In their 2006 state-of-the-state addresses or in budget proposals, 23 governors this year mentioned the importance of early childhood education and kindergarten: six governors called for greater access to full-day kindergarten or expanding access to kindergarten of any kind; three asked for universal prekindergarten; 10 called for increased funding and greater access to pre-K programs; and 10 asked for funds and services to increase quality across programs. Examples of gubernatorial leadership include Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell's Executive Order Number 13, which establishes the Governor's Early Childhood Research and Policy Council. Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich issued an executive order that creates the Maryland Child Care Subsidy Coordinating Council--a major purpose of which includes increasing low-income families' access to high-quality early care and education programs. With Executive Order No. 7 (2006), Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine put in place the Strong Start Council--a 17-member body that he will appoint--to help ensure that early childhood education in the state is sufficient to build a strong foundation for children's success. Declaring 2006 the Year of the Child, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson proposed expanding access to pre-K and doubling existing funding to $10 million in order to serve 3,000 4-year-olds (12%) statewide. In the final year of his first term, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen promised to increase funding by $20 million to expand the state voluntary pre-K program. This would pay for 5,400 additional 4-year-olds. WHAT EXPERT TEACHERS RECOMMEND The National Education Association and the Center for Teaching Quality (formerly the Southeast Center for Teaching Quality) produced Every Child Deserves Our Best Teachers, a report that synthesizes recommendations from North Carolina's National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) on how to support and staff high-needs schools. In addition to financial incentives, the North Carolina NBCTs recommend a comprehensive approach that takes into account the working conditions that are necessary to attract, promote, and sustain high-quality teaching in a school, including: 1) skillful administrators; 2) sufficient curriculum resources; 3) a high-quality, results-driven professional development program; and 4) the time for teachers to reflect collaboratively on student data and their own teaching practice. The specific examples these expert teachers offer are revealing: * Give NBCTs and other accomplished teachers in high-needs schools the flexibility to use research-based practices that go beyond scripted curricula. …

Five preschool curricula —comparative perspective

In recent years the OECD has undertaken the evaluation of early childhood education and care (ECEC) on behalf of ministers of education in a number of countries in order to support quality improvement in this field. This article is based on a workshop for the national coordinators of early childhood policy in Sweden, 2003, which dealt with Curriculum and Pedagogy in Early Childhood Education. The five curricula presented were Reggio Emilia, Te Whariki, Experiential Education, High/Scope and the Swedish National Curriculum for Preschool. The aim of this article is to compare these curricula, establishing similarities and differences discussing quality aspects and problematising the general and the cultural specifics of each curriculum per se and in relation to the others. A further aim is to raise awareness of curriculum questions in connection with children’s learning and development. The article is based on a pedagogical perspective of quality, which takes the perspective of the child and focuses on what is best for a child’s learning and development in a specific culture. The results of the analysis show that the five curricula are of high quality in relation to each country’s culture. High quality in preschool means giving the children a good start in life. The unique and competent child has rights of its own and should be treated with respect. In focus are the individual child’s opportunities for building up knowledge and expressing their understanding of the surrounding world. High quality is also related to the competent and professional teacher with theoretical and pedagogical knowledge.

Instrumento de gestão: Instrumentos para construir uma cidade da criança

Considerando que milhares de municípios já escolheram a criança como foco central de suas políticas e os efeitos sobre a qualidade de vida começam a aparecer, são apresentadas algumas iniciativas que exemplificam ações possíveis no que diz respeito à: Política Municipal pela Infância; Plano Municipal de Ação pela Criança; Planos Setoriais, que abrangem instâncias de organização social pela criança. Também é organizada uma série de itens para prefeitos e prefeitas conferirem a aplicação da prioridade absoluta dos direitos da criança no conjunto das competências municipais.<p> </p><p> </p>

New policy conclusions from starting strong II an update on the OECD early childhood policy reviews

(2006). New policy conclusions from starting strong II an update on the OECD early childhood policy reviews. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal: Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 141-156.

Children's rights and early childhood policy: A New Zealand story

SUMMARY This paper begins with a brief historical overview of children's rights in Aotearoa New Zealand and then examines some of the key early childhood education documents since the 1984 Labour Government's reform agenda, the great experiment (Kelsey, 1995), which not only changed the language of education but also revolutionized the sector administratively. An important and recurrent theme is an enduring obsession with children in the future, which is common to all the policies and documents reviewed.

Putting the Child Back Into Child Care: Combining Care and Education for Children Ages 3‐5

Putting the Child Back Into Child Care: Combining Care and Education for Children Ages 3‐5