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eNotes
A News Service from the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center
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ECTA
Center
eNotes
On March 6, 2012, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children's Media released a new position statement, Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8. The statement is meant to provide research-based guidance to all those who care for young children as they consider if, when and how to use technology and interactive media in early childhood programs (schools, centers, family child care) serving children from birth through age 8.
BUILD and the QRIS National Learning Network, in collaboration with the Early Learning Challenge Collaborative, have published a new brief, Unlocking the Potential of QRIS: Trends and Opportunities in the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge Applications (February 2012), by Louise Stoney. The brief explores the ideas and trends related to quality rating and improvement systems (QRIS) that state leaders included in their Race to the Top — Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) applications.
On March 6, 2012, the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) published the following notice in the Federal Register: Applications for New Awards: Education Research and Special Education Research Grant Programs. The IES will conduct 10 competitions in FY 2013 through its National Center for Education Research (NCER) and its National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER). Some of the topics that will be considered include:
The dates when applications will be available and the deadlines for transmittal of applications are shown in the chart at the end of the announcement. For more information, see the IES Web page on Funding Opportunities.
Findings from a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) show that children treated for cancer before age 4 progressed more slowly in vocabulary, cognitive functions such as attention and memory, and motor skills compared to children who had not had cancer. However, having cancer did not appear to affect children's social and emotional development. The findings suggest that young children with cancer might benefit from such early interventions as physical or language therapy. To learn more, see the NIH Press Release - NIH Study Links Childhood Cancer to Delays in Developmental Milestones (March 9, 2012).
Approximately 50% of children in the U.S. are expected to live in households that receive assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly the Food Stamp Program) at some point in their childhood. Children's HealthWatch has published a new report, The Snap Vaccine: Boosting Children's Health (February 2012), which discusses the effects of SNAP on children's health and well-being. Research shows that children receiving SNAP are less likely to be underweight or at risk for developmental delays than children who are eligible but not receiving SNAP. The authors argue that SNAP is an effective vaccine for supporting the healthy minds and bodies of young children.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation has published a new KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot on High-Poverty Communities (February 2012), which shows that there has been 25% increase in the number of children living in areas of concentrated poverty over the past decade. The snapshot describes regions where concentrated poverty has increased the most, discusses how living in areas of concentrated poverty is harmful to young children, and highlights several promising approaches that could help make these areas better places to raise children.