The Elc An Early Childhood Learning Community At Work

Theory meets practical tips in this guide for leaders of early childhood programs

This book provides insights in to how high quality learning environments in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) develop, and how competent systems can support this. It builds on the knowledge that quality early environments shape the wellbeing and development of the child, and explores how communities of professional practice that support quality development are built. Acknowledging that the conditions for providing high quality pedagogical work depend not only on the individual teacher, but also on collaboration and organizational and professional development. The book draws on a range of theoretical frameworks and research that underline competent systems rather than individualized learning as a path to improve workforce quality and professionalization in the field of ECEC.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

"In Success for Our Youngest Learners: Embracing the PLC Process at the Early Childhood Level, author Barbara W. Cirigliano provides an experience backed guide for the early childhood educator who seeks to improve their school through the usage of the PLC framework. Cirigliano notes that the PLC system is not widely used in Pre-K education and makes the claim that this is a grave mistake. According to Cirigliano, the PLC system provides Pre-K educators with numerous tools to increase their students' success. As such, this book will guide readers through the key ideas and concepts that are foundational to an effective PLC, all while educating readers on how to cater these concepts to early childhood students. Readers will learn how to face the challenges of implementation and be provided with all of the tools and strategies they need to achieve maximum success with their PLC. Through this book, readers will both discover the important role that early childhood education plays in students' success, and also be provided with all of the knowledge, tools, and guidance they need to develop a powerful collaborative culture and successful PLC system in their own schools"--

Early care and education for many children in the United States is in crisis. The period between birth and kindergarten is a critical time for child development, and socioeconomic disparities that begin early in children’s lives contribute to starkly different long-term outcomes for adults. Yet, compared to other advanced economies, high-quality child care and preschool in the United States are scarce and prohibitively expensive for many middle-class and most disadvantaged families. To what extent can early-life interventions provide these children with the opportunities that their affluent peers enjoy and contribute to reduced social inequality in the long term? Cradle to Kindergarten offers a comprehensive, evidence-based strategy that diagnoses the obstacles to accessible early education and charts a path to opportunity for all children. The U.S. government invests less in children under the age of five than do most other developed nations. Most working families must seek private childcare, which means that children from low-income households, who would benefit most from high-quality early education, are the least likely to attend them. Existing policies, such as pre-kindergarten in some states are only partial solutions. To address these deficiencies, the authors propose to overhaul the early care system, beginning with a federal paid parental leave policy that provides both mothers and fathers with time and financial support after the birth of a child. They also advocate increased public benefits, including an expansion of the child care tax credit, and a new child care assurance program that subsidizes the cost of early care for low- and moderate-income families. They also propose that universal, high-quality early education in the states should start by age three, and a reform of the Head Start program that would include more intensive services for families living in areas of concentrated poverty and experiencing multiple adversities from the earliest point in these most disadvantaged children’s lives. They conclude with an implementation plan and contend that these reforms are attainable within a ten-year timeline. Reducing educational and economic inequalities requires that all children have robust opportunities to learn, fully develop their capacities, and have a fair shot at success. Cradle to Kindergarten presents a blueprint for fulfilling this promise by expanding access to educational and financial resources at a critical stage of child development.

Learning Communities 2.0 is an insightful, incisive, and paradigm-shifting critique of today's coercive, 'inside-the-box,' Industrial Age testing and accountability movement, which authors Spady and Schwahn describe as a politically driven, backward-facing juggernaut masquerading as reform. They call the compelling intellectual, functional, and moral alternative described in this book Empowering Learning Communities (ELCs). Drawing on mountains of insightful research and innovative practices from their vast experience and international consulting work in education, they clearly, systematically, and compellingly describe the distinguishing and defining components of ELCs, why ELCs are desperately needed in today's Age of Empowerment, how ELCs differ from 'educentric' schools, how ELCs function, the life-performance outcomes that shape ELCs' instructional priorities, and the strategies, frameworks, and transformational technologies that local communities can use to design and implement the key elements of ELCs in a number of creative ways. This is education's inevitable future.