After completing the course "Building Research Competency", I have determined there are many facets to the field of research.  Even for professionals who do not plan to conduct research, there is a vast array of information that must be learned in order to understand research.

I have always been a bit intimidated by research.  I took an Ecology course in college and that was my first real taste of research studies.  We had to analyze a few studies, and then create our own study, including writing each component of the research report.  I became familiar with the abstract, methods, and conclusion sections, and also learned how to create charts and record data.  It was all a bit overwhelming and to be honest, I was glad when it was all over!  I didn't think I would need to utilize any of the information after the course.  To my surprise, this course was actually an in depth study of what I had experienced.  And, I was grateful for my prior knowledge in the area of research, although it was only the tip of the iceberg so to speak.

What I have learned in this course is that research is a complex project.  There are many things to consider before even beginning with just a simple research question.  I learned that as soon as you spark an interest in something, the best thing to do is to search for research studies that have been done in the past and compile as much information as possible.  This will help guide you through formulating some questions.  Once you have the questions in mind, the design of the study can begin.  Several factors, such as who will conduct the research, who the participants can be, where the research will be done, the type of study that will be conducted (ie. qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, etc.), and how the conclusion of the study may contribute to the field, are very important.  Aside from that, clearly articulating information and proving the validity of the experiment are important, especially for replication.

I definitely see the field of early childhood education vital to the research field.  As I said before, I did not feel I would ever conduct research beyond college.  I wanted to run a preschool.  However, any contribution I can offer my colleagues based on my findings will benefit the profession and I fully intend on doing so when I have the opportunity.  I am thankful for the knowledge and understanding this class has provided me with, as well as the enlightenment.

Early Childhood Australia - A voice for young children

http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Today's society provides us with the opportunity to learn more about the world than ever before. The internet is our key to endless possibilities.  Without ever stepping foot outside of our home we can see the world!  Not only can we explore and embrace cultural diversity, we can band together and share our knowledge in order to enhance our quality of life.  Education is a field every culture is equally concerned about; especially the early childhood profession.  It seems to have become increasingly prominent all over the world, and educators and researchers are sharing their findings.  I am excited to expand my mind and explore the work of early childhood professionals in Australia this week.  This is what I found when on the website for Early Childhood Australia.

What are some of the current international research topics?

This website offers a page dedicated to "Resource Themes".  Currently, there are clickable options under the following categories:  Being Belonging and Becoming, School Readiness and Children's Transitions, Sustainability Global Warming and Climate Changes, Baby and Toddler Sleeping and Childhood Health and Obesity.  Once you click on a link there are several research articles, books and credible quotes available on each topic.  The sources are listed, as well as additional links to help you find the sources.  There is a place on the homepage which lists current news and popular items.  Some of the recent popular items include the early years learning framework, and learning and teaching through play.  Several media releases are also on the homepage including ECPs responses to current issues, such as national standards and budget initiatives.

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

In all honesty, I was shocked to see one of the resource themes was global warming and climate change.  I agree this is a very important issue we all must face and act on, I was just surprised to see this organization had information pertaining to the early childhood field.  I began the topic through the clickable links.  I found this organization is promoting what they call, "transformative education" that values, encourages and supports young children to be problem-seekers, problem-solvers, and action-takers in their own environments.  This involves including education about nature in the early childhood curriculum and encouraging children to play outside and become deeply engaged in the natural world.  There are several bullet points listed about what childhood professionals can do from modeling green housekeeping within their centers, to becoming advocates for neighborhood outdoor play areas for children.  I was very happy to read this and plan on implementing some of the suggestions offered by the organization.

What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

There is a section called "Supporting Best Practices".  This is broken down by categories and then several subcategories.  Each subcategory leads you to a brief explanation and then includes a country afterward.  I was a bit confused so I clicked on the final subcategory.  What this meant is that the organization found a credible educational resource on each topic and many of them are from organizations located around the globe.  I thought this was a really cool feature.  Although I was researching an Australian organization I was able to learn from organizations all over the world.  The website is really an extremely organized portal to pertinent information in the early childhood field.  

I am so impressed by this website and plan to utilize it from this day forward.  Often I find myself overwhelmed when doing searches online and cannot seem to find credible sources.  This website will help me so much.  

Concsious Discipline for Educators and Parents

"Conscious Discipline" is an evidence-based program that was named as a national model for character education by the Florida State Legislature.  There are two models: The Connected Family and The School Family.  The county I live in has adopted this program and I have seen it in action in my son's kindergarten classroom.  It is truly amazing.  Read below:

The Connected Family creates healthy relationships between parents, between parents and children, between siblings, and between extended family members and the community at large.

The good news is that the seven skills of Conscious Discipline you will use to guide your children to being successful are the same skills needed to enhance relationships. The Conscious Discipline Brain State Model will help you understand the science behind behaviors that will serve you well in any chosen field of work. The Seven Powers for Conscious Adults will highlight for you your ineffective behavioral patterns that get in your way of being successful at whatever you do. The Conscious Discipline program is a 3 in 1 powerhouse. Discipline your children in such as they become self-disciplined, improve all your relationships with adults and children, and become successful in your career. The catch in this wonderful news is you must have an authentically connected family base from which all this manifest.

Connection, not attention, is what all people seek. Loving moments of genuine connection literally wire the brain for impulse control and willingness. The biochemistry of love allows us to move beyond power struggles to a willingness to cooperate, fosters forgiveness instead simply trying to forget, and provides the willingness needed to repair ruptured relationship moments.

The Connected Family is
 fostered through predictable routines, nurturing rituals
 and specific Conscious Discipline structures in the home.

The Connected Family creates a fundamental shift of power in our homes. All members in the family are empowered to have their needs met and a voice, not the final voice, but a voice. We must leave coercion, fear and external rewards behind, and step into a new worldview where intrinsic motivation, helpfulness, problem-solving and connection govern our homelife. We move from attempting to control our children and make them behave to helping them be successful in following the rules. We move from correction to connection from compliance to alliance. All else falls in place!

The School Family builds connections between families and schools, teachers and teachers, teachers and students, and students and students to ensure the optimal development of all.

These connections provide the three essential ingredients for school success:

A willingness to learn: Without willingness, each interaction becomes a power struggle instead of a learning opportunity. The School Family brings all children, especially the most difficult, to a place of willingness through a sense of belonging.

Impulse control: Connection with others is the construct that literally wires the brain for impulse control. Disconnected children are disruptive. External reward/punishment systems cannot improve a child’s ability to self-regulate because they are not designed to teach new skills. The School Family uses connection to internally encourage impulse control and teaches self-regulation skills in context.

Attention: Our attentional system is sensitive to stress and becomes engaged with positive emotions. The School Family reduces stress while creating an atmosphere of caring, encouragement and meaningful contributions. These components are essential for children to develop and apply sustained attention.

The School Family is
created through routines, rituals
and structures.

The School Family creates a fundamental shift in education and classroom management. Leave coercion, fear and external rewards behind, and step into a world where intrinsic motivation, helpfulness, problem-solving and connection govern your classroom.

Check out this link to see how implementing the Conscious Discipline model transformed one Florida "D" rated school:

http://consciousdiscipline.com/about/ferncreek.asp

There are several research papers and statistics as well:

http://consciousdiscipline.com/about/research_papers.asp

I highly recommend this program for any family or school.  

Research Focus - Formal Assessment in Early Childhood

Throughout this course we are required to choose a research topic.  I chose the topic, "How to perform formal assessments in early childhood".  This has been something I have been struggling with over the past few years within my own center.  As a director, evaluating the program to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses is a top priority.  Our primary objective is kindergarten readiness, so the best way to determine program quality is through the analysis of student achievement.  This process involves initially testing children for prior knowledge, performing assessments throughout the year, and then re-evaluating at the end of the year through a formal assessment to determine the knowledge the children have gained throughout the year in comparison to what they already knew.

Each year I work with my faculty to develop a pretest, mid-year evaluations, and a year-end assessment. Every year we improve this process through revising the tests and administering them in different ways.  It is always a challenge.  This year we still administered our own pretest, but decided to adopt the progress reporting system developed by the state of Florida to coincide with the learning standards developed for 

four year-olds.  In our opinion, there are still changes that need to be made.  

I believe the art of assessing early childhood students is yet to be discovered.  It's not as simple as giving them a scantron and asking them to fill in the bubbles.  Children who learn through play must demonstrate their knowledge in the same fashion.  I am excited about researching this topic, but more importantly, I feel secure in having the guidance and support of my instructor and colleagues in learning HOW to do this research.  As I mentioned, I have been digging around in this topic for the past several years in an attempt to create the perfect assessments.  It has been extremely overwhelming.  It seems I always begin researching and give up because I am inundated with information overload.  I would welcome any advice or resources in this area as I begin my journey.  If you have answers to the following questions, please feel free to share!

• Do you feel the pre-test and post-test should be the same in order to compare then/now results?
• Do you feel children should be separated from the classroom and taken into a private environment to be tested, or should they remain in the classroom setting among peers?
• Should parents be provided with their children's results in conjunction with where they rank in their group of peers (not revealing identities of course)?
• Do any of you have a valuable resource or tool you are currently utilizing to assess 3 / 4 year olds?

I am looking forward to this journey and am exciting to hear about your topics!  Happy researching to all!

Three Consequences of Establishing an International Contact

I am so happy I was able to establish contact with Ankie from The Netherlands.  She is a passionate educator, wife, and mother who continues to advocate for children although her personal life is very busy.  She has become an inspiration and someone I can easily identify with.

Three consequences occurring as result of this experience, personally are as follows:  the realization that similar early childhood issues are going on in other countries, the desire to learn more about different cultures and their programs in hopes to learn from it, and the positive, reassuring feeling that we are not alone and there are people everywhere dealing with, and fighting for the same issues we face daily.

My goal is to continue contact with Ankie and share thoughts and ideas regarding the education and well being of children.  I would also like to establish new contacts in other countries to build a larger network of colleagues.

International Contact

My international contact and I have been discussing assessments.  She actually provided me with a ton of information on how the assessment process works in the Netherlands.  This is what she wrote:

Sooo interesting that you are asking these questions. Here in Holland that same issue is being discussed for a couple of years now!

Last summer the government have adopted a new law; compulsory standard exit-tests for all students on both language and math skills.

This starts next schoolyear.

The idea of testing 3-year olds when the enter primary education did not make it trough the Senate, fortunately.

 

But, let's start at the beginning:

For all subjects national standards are created, from which schools have to teach, but  they are written down as final objectives per grade, per subject.

How and when in that specific grade schools teach the matter is completely up to the schools.

However, in higher grades,these objectives are used to write books and other teaching materials, used in the classroom.

Each school can decide if they wish to test their pupils, but usually schools test their pupils twice a year, using standardised tests.

About 80% of the schools use a standardised tests, even with the 4-year-olds.

These are administered indeed in a paper-and-pencil way, for the youngest  the line used is" underline the pictuere where you can see a............" , since they cannot read.

Add to that the fact that most schoolbooks have their own tests per chapter, you can imagine that childrens progress can be very closely monitored.

 

This is another thing schools are required by law to do: monitor and document the progress of each pupil, per subject.

Especially in the first few grades this information is gathered through observation by the teachers.

And, after having observed and documented that,

we have to help students who fall back by writing 6-week plans to get them back on track again.

A funny thing: there's nothing written about the gifted children... I feel they too need 6-week-plans to help them!

Fortunately, the school my two eldest children attend, is implementing a tracking-system for gifted children and offers them "grade 9-time".

Care for those who are not average, is typically something educational inspectors grade schools on.

 

And than, my opinion on the matter.

Ofcourse we need to test children. It is the only way you can be sure children have picked up and understood what you have been teaching.

Gaps in their understanding of things can be found and 'fixed'. The creativity of the teacher can be exercised in many ways to teach the matter at hand.

On the other hand, I really think we can NEVER underestimate the opinion of the teacher. They know their pupils through and through, know their strengths and weaknesses.

We can never rely on testresults exclusively, luckily colleges and highschools always talk to the primary schoolteachers before placing students.

 

Testing on entering primary schools is in my opinion rediculous.

This way, young children can be stigmatized as problem child, where this may not be the case.

I think that schools need to focus on the learning-curve of a child. It's not relevant with what level of knowledge a child enters a school,

it's the amount of added knowledge and skills that is important.

We need to expect the most of both studants and teachers in order to achieve a maximum 'output'.

 

I thanked Ankie and told her what a blessing she has been to this course.  It's nice to hear from a fellow professional educator the latest information from another part of the world.  It helps us see that we all have the same passion, and we are all working toward a common goal; the happiness and success of our children.

Sharing Web Sources

On the website for the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators, they have dedicated a page to related organizations.  I have found this to be helpful when researching several topics.  This week, since we have been studying equity in early childhood, I felt called to explore the website for The Division for Early Childhood.  Their tag line states, "Promoting Policies. Advancing Practices.".  Their homepages states:

The Division for Early Childhood (DEC) is an international membership organization for those who work with or on behalf of young children with disabilities and other special needs. 

Our mission is to promote policies and advance evidence-based practices to support the optimal development of young children with special needs.

In studying equity and inequity in early childhood education, this week's focus has been on awareness, accessibility, and responsiveness.  It can be confusing enough for families to remain informed on services available to their children.  Families with children who have special needs are even more vulnerable and it is extremely important they receive the information and resources available to provide them with as much support as possible. 

The Division for Early Childhood has their website broken up into five different sections.  You can search under families, policymakers, professionals, students or just browsing.  Using these search engines makes it quick and easy to access the information pertaining to a variety of interested people.  The following links are available for families:

Families

• The Division for Early Childhood
• Membership
• Position Statements and Concept Papers
• Conference Stipends
• Recommended Practices
• Journals
• Collaboration
• Resources for Families

And for professionals:

Professionals

• The Division for Early Childhood
• Awards
• Membership
• DEC Career Center
• Position Statements and Concept Papers
• Recommended Practices
• Journals
• Collaboration
• Professional Opportunities

As a professional, I plan to research the resources on this website and point families I serve here to access information.  It is my responsibility to point them in the right direction to access all available resources to give their children the best education possible.  I am thankful to have websites such as these to help keep me informed.