Two must Listen web cast.

These two web casts were very helpful in the issue of standards in the early years. The arguments is between very DAP teachers and teachers that love common core standards. If you take both and balance the kindergarten classroom with rich learning through play activities and vibrant didactic teaching SUCCESS OF DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE STANDARDS AND IMPLEMENTATION  FALLS ON A WELL PREPARED TEACHER THROUGH PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.  

National K-3 Standards Harm or Help Young Children?

Randi Weingarten, Edward Miller, Lisa Guernsey with Rae Pica

 this web cast, they discuss the concern of implementing Preschool and Kindergarten Standards. Research shows that children that learn to read at 5 and children that learn at 7 show know differences by age 11. 

The fear is that children that aren't learning these skills at age 5 will end up labeled as deficient. 

The point is equity in Literacy and Numeracy not Standards. The standards are to help ALL children be exposed to academics. 

Some believe that standards are promoting didactic teaching rather than a balance o didactic and play learning which is stunting social emotional growth. 

What matters is how to implementing standards both didactically, through play, and dramatic play. 

Can Kindergarten Standards Be Implemented in a Developmentally Appropriate Way?Randi Weingarten, Edward Miller, Lisa Guernsey with Rae Pica

Mrs. Weingarten- Feels like the standards help scaffold the learning for children and teachers. Third grade teachers shouldn't be held responsible. 

Ed Standards have become a "Sacred Cow"  there is no research that shows that standards helps K-3. 

We need to become strong advocates for our children and not allow tests to be misused and become the only way children are assessed. 

Implementation is what is important to have a positive experience and outcome from standards.

National K-3 Standards Harm or Help Young Children?Randi Weingarten, Edward Miller, Lisa Guernsey with Rae Pica

Are proposed national, common core standards developmentally appropriate at the kindergarten level? Class, wealth, social status, and implementation may all be factors. In this two-part series Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, defends the program to critics who argue that national standards are neither needed nor helpful.

http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=554:jackstreet54&catid=35:jackstreet54&Itemid=89 

Can Kindergarten Standards Be Implemented in a Developmentally Appropriate Way?Randi Weingarten, Edward Miller, Lisa Guernsey with Rae Pica

Do common core standards for kindergarten mean standardized testing for very young children? If not, how will the standards be measured? There are many questions around how this program will ultimately be implemented.  In this segment our guests zoom in on the challenges, potential pitfalls and possible ways to employ kindergarten standards in a developmentally appropriate way.

http://www.jackstreet.com/jackstreet/WMBK.RTKindergartenregulation2.cfm



Global Initiative

The global initiative is working with Brazil to develop good leadership and policy in their Early Childhood Program. They have begun to translate videos to educate Brazilians. Se the below paragraph for more direct info.

As part of its Global Children’s Initiative, the Center launched Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância, its first major programmatic effort outside the United States. In collaboration with local experts, this project aims to use the science of child health and development to guide stronger policies and larger investments to benefit young children and their families in Brazil.

Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância is a collaboration between the Center, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of São Paulo, and Insper. This project represents a unique opportunity for the Center to work with Brazilian scholars, policymakers, and civil society leaders to adapt the Center’s programmatic model for the local context in order to catalyze more effective policies and programs that will, ultimately, foster a more prosperous, sustainable, and equitable society.

Together, these organizations engage in the following activities:

• Building a scientific agenda and community of scholars around early childhood development;
• Synthesizing and translating scientific knowledge for application to social policy. This will include working with the Center’s longtime partner organization, Frameworks Institute, to effectively communicate the science of child development in the Brazilian cultural context;
• Strengthening leadership around early childhood development through an executive leadership course for policymakers;
• Translating and adapting the Center’s existing print and multimedia resources for a Brazilian audience
• 
  

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/activities/global_initiative/applying_the_science_of_early_childhood_in_brazi/