For more than two decades EDC has led efforts to improve the quality and availability of child care by supporting the professionals who care for young children. For a profession that is historically underpaid and undervalued, we develop programs that enhance the stature, improve the professional opportunities, and raise the expectations of those who care for the very young. Partnering with local, regional, and national child care providers, we develop resource centers, design professional development courses, offer on-site consultation, and conduct research in such areas as curriculum and materials development, literacy enhancement, special education, parent involvement, performance assessment, and management and supervision.
EDC’s Center for Children & Families (CC&F) is the recipient of
two new grants that focus on improving the quality of teaching
and professional development for early childhood educators.The grants will fund two areas of
research, science education and literacy and language.
Arranging affordable, quality child
care is essential, but very difficult, for most migrant families. “The
challenges migrant families face are very complex,” explains EDC’s
Sheila Skiffington. “There are language barriers, 9–5 office
hours when applying for care, transportation problems, complicated forms
to fill out, and fear of government institutions.”
A new study of early childhood education programs across the country explores different ways states and local early education programs have used their funding and resources to improve child care services. The study, Early Care and Education Partnerships: State Actions and Local Lessons, was released today by the Partnership Impact Research Project (PI), based at Education Development Center.
In preschool classrooms around the world, children build structures with blocks, knock them over, and start again. In Cindy Hoisington’s Head Start classroom in Roslindale, Massachusetts, children also build with blocks. But before they get the pleasure of watching their structures tumble, her students are documenting what they’ve built. Sometimes they photograph the structures; sometimes they draw them with paper and pen; and sometimes they create small-scale replicas of their large structures with foam blocks and glue.
