Schools for young children, a recent phenomenon, have become increasingly common in the 20th century, but are still not an integral part of most school systems. It remains to be seen if the 21st century will see the development of seamless systems of education from preschool through third grade. (SLD)

Presents a general discussion of the difficulties expected to be encountered, regardless of setting, when attempting to implement an early childhood literacy program in which a social interactional approach to instruction is used. The author provides a framework for understanding early childhood teachers' attitudes and beliefs that can lead to…

Argues that, while teacher and school efforts are important, the conditions outside of schools hold the key to increasing academic achievement substantially. Family socialization practices in American and Asian families are reviewed; and children's early cognitive and social behaviors are linked to later school behavior, including academic…