(Download) "Forty Years of School Readiness Research: What Have We Learned?" by Childhood Education # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Forty Years of School Readiness Research: What Have We Learned?
- Author : Childhood Education
- Release Date : January 01, 2008
- Genre: Education,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 200 KB
Description
The issue of children's school readiness concerns parents and teachers worldwide. Kindergarten teachers have reported that approximately one-third of U.S. children entering school are ill-prepared to achieve success (Boyer, 1991; Carnegie Task Force on Meeting the Needs of Young Children, 1994). Experts also warn that many children are entering school lacking the fundamental skills to achieve academic success. It is well-documented that children of color and those from low-income families are more likely to enter school with fewer of the language, literacy, social, and other skills needed to ensure school success, compared to more advantaged children (Child Trends & Center for Child Health Research, 2004; Early et al., 2007). While public schools have become more involved in preschool education and elementary schools are serving increasingly younger children, the schools themselves are often ill-prepared to provide learning environments that stimulate children's early learning in developmentally appropriate ways. In the United States, the recent emphasis on accountability for children's progress has perpetuated "push-down" curriculum approaches in elementary schools and the elimination of recess in favor of longer periods of instruction that leave little or no time for young children to learn naturally through play and exploration. After more than 40 years of research examining school readiness, it is timely to reflect on where we are at this point and what we have learned from prior studies. Consequently, the purpose of this article is to delve into the extant research base to examine what research has revealed that may guide and inform current school readiness efforts. We will summarize key findings of relevant research, with an emphasis on highly credible, large-scale studies from which one can, with confidence, draw implications for developing school readiness models.