Research that Benefits Children and Families—Uplifting Stories

Early Head Start and Research Evaluation Project

Being an early childhood professional has enabled me to recognize issues that involve young children and how they learn, grow, develop and progress.  All children are different and have different learning styles.  I believe that the Head Start Program is a good opportunity for young children to begin the development and learning process.

An article that I found very interesting was The Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project.  The project involved 3,001 children and families in 17 sites; half received early head start services, while the other half were randomly assigned to a control group that did not receive early head start services, even though they were free to used other services in the community.  Parents and children were assessed when the children were 14, 24, and 36 months old.  Families were also interviewed about their use of a wide range of services at 6, 15, and 26 months after enrollment.   The 17 sites were selected to reflect the array of all Early Head Start programs according to geographic region, racial-ethnic status, urban-rural location, and program experience in serving infants and toddlers.  Implementing the Head Start Program Standards early and fully is important in order to maximizing impacts on children and the families. 

Findings showed that the program had an impact across a wide range of child and parenting outcomes that bode well for children’s future school success.  The broad impacts on child development, combined with changes and literacy provided a foundation that subsequent programs can build on in order to continue the early head start gains. 

Reference

Early Head Start Benefits Children and Their Families (Research)  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/ehs/ehs_resrch/index.htm.

My Personal Research Journey

My Personal Research Journey

The topic that I have chosen for the simulation is poverty.  I chose the topic of poverty because I have learned that poverty is not just being hungry but also lack of shelter, being sick and not being able to see a doctor because you have no insurance, not having access to school, not having a job, living one day at a time or living paycheck to paycheck, most of all poverty in a sense is being powerless.  As a teacher, I will do all that I can to ensure that my students get all the help they need as well as their families.  I feel that because low-income parents may often be overwhelmed by low self-esteem, a sense of powerlessness, and lack of hope for a change in the future, I will introduce ways that will help them to become empowered by first offering my assistance where needed.  We must find ways as a society to address rampant poverty or we may risk losing a generation.

The simulation process has allowed me to view my topic through various lenses.  This is an area that is in-depth and focuses on various populations, gender, ages and races.  Poverty does not discriminate.  Researching information on this topic will give me a wider vision as a professional how to take part in decreasing poverty with the help of my colleagues, friends, family, and administrators. 

After constructing the research chart I realized that my research reading skills were not up to par.  I learned that even though I have used citations before, citing them in the correct format will be my biggest obstacle. This is an area that I have always had a problem with basically because there are so many different ways to cite them.  I will also focus on paraphrasing so as not to plagiarize unintentionally which can be easily done if not careful.  I look forward to learning from my colleagues any information that may help me with this process.  I will be more than happy to share resources as well as receive resources during this process. 

Consequences of learning about the international early childhood field

Consequences of learning about the international early childhood field

During the past eight weeks I had the privilege to work with two international partners.  Jessica Taeden, Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in Bulgaria and Tara Myers, OMEP – USA in Jamaica.  I learned much information regarding the field of early childhood from these professionals through e-mails and telephone conversations. 

The first consequence is being able to compare the United States with other countries in order to tell what issues and trends they have that are similar and different.  Research can be done on these issues and trends in order to find solutions.

The second consequence is addressing in more detail high quality education in the field of early childhood.  Jessica, who lives in Bulgaria, informed me that standards for early childhood professionals there are very high but they still have problems with children with special needs as far as qualified programs are concerned

The third consequence is being able to communicate through various outlets of communication.  The internet is one area that provides communication opportunities with professionals in various areas of the early childhood field.  There are also professionals who head programs and research from all around the world who can be reached through e-mails, telephone, and blogs. 

I have really enjoyed working with my two international contacts because they have helped me to gain a better understanding regarding issues and trends concerning other countries. They have helped me to discover new and different ways in which to increase a child’s academic development through various tool, technologies, and strategies. 

My goal as a professional in the field of early childhood is to keep abreast of new and changing issues with individuals in other countries. I would also like to continue to provide high-quality services to children and their families.  I would like to continue to update my knowledge and skills through a coherent and systematic program of learning experiences.  I wish all of my classmates the best in furthering their education in order to enable children get the best education possible.