ECTA
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eNotes
A News Service from the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center
Current and past issues of eNotes can be viewed and searched online at http://www.ectacenter.org/enotes/enotes.asp
ECTA
Center
eNotes
On Monday, June 2 12:30-1:30pm Dr. Becki Herman, Project Director of the What Works Clearinghouse, a project funded by the Department of Education's Institute for Education Sciences, will be the expert for the Access Center's Expert Chat. She will be joined by her colleague Steve Fleischman. Dr. Herman and Mr. Fleischman will facilitate a chat entitled, "Research-Based, Evidence-Based, Scientifically-Based, and Research Proven: What Does it All Mean?" To learn more go to: http://www.k8accesscenter.org/online_community_area/chats.asp
In the report, Leaving Too Many Children Behind, Harold "Bud" Hodgkinson, Director of the Center for Demographic Policy and well-respected demographer, warns that many children will be left behind if more attention is not paid to the crucial development years of birth to 5 years. Dr. Hodgkinson says that improving the quality of infant and childcare, and providing excellent programs for 3- and 4-year-olds like those in other developed countries, are needed. His recommendations include convening a national Governors' Summit on this issue. The report can be downloaded from the IEL Web site in pdf format http://www.iel.org/pubs/manychildren.pdf. Hardback copies of the full report are also available for $12 prepaid, and bulk discounts are provided upon request.
The Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative (Urban Collaborative) at the Educational Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is assisting with the launch of the first-ever technical assistance center to focus on the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education, the National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt). NCCRESt's mission is to provide support to state and local school systems in assuring a quality, culturally-responsive education for all students. NCCRESt is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and targets improvements in culturally responsive practices, early intervention, literacy, and positive behavioral supports. To learn more go to: http://www.nccrest.org/.
The National Reading Panel, whose 2000 report has served as the basis for President Bush's Reading First initiative as well as state and district policies around the country, gave too much credit to the importance of phonics instruction in teaching young children to read, argues a new study published in the Education Policy Analysis Archives, a peer-reviewed journal. The study Teaching Children to Read: The Fragile Link Between Science and Federal Education Policy is available in pdf from the Education Policy Analysis Archives, Volume 11, Number 15 (May 8, 2003) at http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v11n15/.
Technical Report: Trends in the Data on Extreme Black Child Poverty presents an analysis of poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. The Children's Defense Fund tabulated data during the period 1991-2002 and analyzed trends in extreme poverty among black children. The report presents the results of this analysis and also explores technical issues that could affect the statistics. The report is available at http://cdf.convio.net/site/DocServer/extremepoverty.pdf?docID=464.
[Originally published in MCHAlert © 2003 National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health and Georgetown University. Reprinted with permission.]
"Over the past two decades, business leaders have invested time, expertise, and resources in efforts to improve K-12 education in the United States. What we have learned leads us to conclude that America's continuing efforts to improve education and develop a world-class workforce will be hampered without a federal and state commitment to early childhood education for 3 and 4 year old children..." To access the full text of this new Education Policy Statement from the Business Roundtable go to: http://www.wskg.com/media/2174096/Call%20to%20Action%20From%20the%20Business%20Community.pdf
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the availability of fiscal year (FY) 2003 funds for a cooperative agreement program for Building Capacity for Population-Based Surveillance of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and other Developmental Disabilities (DDs)...
This program will support funding for applicants to develop a new surveillance system for ASDs and other DDs, beginning with the ASDs and Mental Retardation (MR) in eight year-old children, in collaboration with a network of CDC-funded ASD/DD surveillance projects known as the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network.
Measurable outcomes of the program will be in alignment with the following performance goals for the National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD): To improve the data on the prevalence of birth defects and developmental disabilities and find causes and risk factors of birth defects and developmental disabilities in order to develop prevention strategies.
Complete information is available on the CDC Web site at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-12396.htm