Interviewed university faculty and teachers working with three early-childhood teacher-preparation programs about their experiences regarding roles in teacher preparation. Found that (1) roles in teacher preparation are changing, and changes are difficult but positive; (2) organizational and cultural factors limit meaningful collaboration in…

Considers how to provide a supportive, secure environment to children of divorce through opportunities to exercise personal control, being tolerant of variable academic performance, and expressing faith in children's character and capacity for growth. Provides suggestions for creating safe channels for communication and teaching children coping…

Discusses domestic violence as a social issue and the roles of school, social worker, and teacher in combating domestic violence. Focuses on teachers' roles in identifying domestic violence and includes questions to assist in identification. Suggests ways to respond to a child's disclosure of violence, and classroom strategies to establish a…

Examines the rationale for expanding teachers' roles, using preschool education in the slums of Baroda, India, as an illustrative study, and its implications for teacher preparation in 21st-century United States. Considers the roles of child educator and advocate, family-life educator, environment educator, economic adviser, and health educator.…

Discusses findings providing evidence for the significance of early childhood for brain development, highlighting pivotal discoveries that should guide care and education of the young. Includes information on stages of brain wiring, critical periods, and the role of environment in brain development. Makes recommendations for broad policy changes…

Discusses how teacher educators can critically examine their own conceptual frameworks, teaching methods, strategies, and techniques, and how they can maintain dialog with colleagues to make more thoughtful decisions about their own teaching practices and to more effectively link course content and the learning process. (Author/KB)

Describes how teachers can better understand adopted, language-minority students. Notes the importance of avoiding a classroom climate that classifies people into neat categories, avoiding stereotyping, learning about the student's birth country, and remembering that the meaning of a situation may vary by culture. Discusses special needs of young…

Describes how parents can instill habits of safety in very young children to help their future teenagers be safe and responsible drivers. Discusses the importance of developing safety habits while automobile and bicycle riding, instilling in toddlers a sense of responsibility through practice, being aware of the power of parental modeling, and…

Discusses how the dimensions of the inquiry process--and applying this process to early-childhood teacher education--shape the challenge for early-childhood teacher educators to create a meaningful context for promoting inquiry as a lifelong endeavor for their students. Reviews several strategies to promote an inquiring and caring teacher/learning…

A family literacy program used "Be Excited about Reading" bags, which contained quality children's books and family activities that extended the classroom theme to be taken home by at-risk prekindergarten and kindergarten students. The literacy bags reached all families, encouraged family/school partnerships promoting children's learning, affected…

Describes use of learning-resource centers as a method of supporting meaningful learning in primary classrooms. Discusses student assessment through formal and informal means; planning, including selecting learning goals and activities; and documentation of student progress as the keys to children's effective use of learning-resource centers.…

Presents specific ways teachers can create a safe, just, inclusive, communicative, inviting, and caring elementary classroom community that promotes academic achievement. Focuses on teachers becoming more caring and competent by being honest, cultivating communication skills, being flexible, being empathetic, promoting humor, being kind,…

Describes how parents became involved in the portfolio student assessment process at a suburban elementary school, focusing on strategies found to be effective in promoting parent collaboration. Presents information on strategies such as giving information on the process to parents through meetings and a weekly principal newsletter and having…

Identifies positive outcomes of parental involvement in their children's education. Suggests that, to become involved, parents should: communicate with school professionals; volunteer at school; visit the school; discuss the importance of school with their children; help children develop priorities; provide after-school supervision; establish…

Summarizes 10 documents and 7 journal articles from the ERIC database discussing the resilience of children. Topics covered include: ways to develop and promote resiliency in children; characteristics of resilient children; descriptions of school and community programs successful in promoting students' resilience and success; and characteristics…