Teaching
"Stretching Children's Thinking": New Video Highlights Importance of Classroom Interactions
Good preschool teachers don't give children the answers; they help children get there on their own by "stretching children's thinking."
So says Robert Pianta, Dean of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia and a recognized expert in early education, in a new video on effective classroom interactions that interweaves advice and policy discussion with clips of teachers talking and singing with their students. The video, which offers a helpful engaging overview of the latest thinking on early education, is designed in part to promote more use of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, or the CLASS, a tool for measuring what happens in minute-by-minute increments between teachers and students. As explained in a new policy brief by Pianta and colleagues, the system has been used in more than 2,000 classrooms to assess teaching quality. (Work on CLASS is funded in part by the Foundation for Child Development, which is among Early Ed Watch's funders as well.)
Two Antidotes to 'Kindergarten Cram'
In Sunday's New York Times Magazine, Peggy Orenstein voices the worries that many middle-income parents are having about kindergarten: Have we gone overboard in trying to make sure our students are academically prepared? In her piece, "Kindergarten Cram," Orenstein asks: "What was the rush?" "How did 5 become the new 7, anyway?"
As the mother of two daughters -- one in 1st grade and another about to enter kindergarten in a Title I public school -- I often have the same thoughts. Not to mention my own nostalgia for those few kindergarten days I remember myself, apple-picking under a blue sky and dipping a brush into a gooey vat of paste during art projects.
But I also have high regard for research that shows the benefits of introducing academic concepts related to literacy, science and math skills in pre-k and kindergarten classrooms. Kindergartens that fail to support these developing skills, that take a lackadaisical approach to teaching and learning, can be harmful too, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds who do not have access to a lot of books or curiosity-provoking conversation at home. Intentional, purposeful and thoughtful teaching -- not just watching from afar, but guiding and prompting questions -- is critical.
McKinsey Report: Achievement Gaps Are Causing The Equivalent of A Deep Recession
Poor academic achievement on multiple levels -- including dismal showings among middle class students in America compared to other countries -- has led the United States to lose hundreds of billions of dollars in its gross domestic product, according to a report released by McKinsey & Company today.
The report makes a case for the devastating economic impact of not improving the nation's schools. Its data show that achievement gaps have imposed "the economic equivalent of a permanent deep recession." The report does not offer specific recommendations for getting out of this ditch, other than to look more closely at the few school systems that are making progress and adopt their practices.
The way out was left to a discussion with education and civil rights leaders at the formal unveiling of the report at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., today. Disappointingly, although the Rev. Al Sharpton voiced strong applause lines about the need for change, there was no specific mention of what might be achieved by offering better early childhood education opportunities to young children and tying those early experiences to what is taught in elementary schools.
The Dangers Of Teaching Same Sex Marriage To Young Children
Supporters of Prop 8, an initiative to ban same-sex marriage, claim that if gay couples continue to be permitted to marry in
The controversy begs a practical question:: What would it be like to try to teach same-sex marriage to kindergarteners? I can only imagine how one might do that.
The scene, a kindergarten classroom, morning
Little girl #1: J is my favorite letter!
