Abstract/Notes: A 5-year qualitative study of implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) analyzes the effects on four rural school districts of large-scale changes in state policy. This annual report of the project focuses on five key KERA "strands." First, KERA mandates that grades K-3 be replaced with an ungraded primary program characterized by seven "critical attributes." Developmentally appropriate practices was the most successfully implemented attribute, but dual-age grouping (the preferred multiage pattern of most schools) appeared to be acting as a barrier to continuous progress, a third attribute. With regard to the second strand--instruction, assessment, and accountability--major findings were that the state assessment program was the driving force behind most instructional changes, emphasis on writing had been increased, teachers had mixed reactions to this increased emphasis, and there was little school-wide planning and implementation of instructional changes. The

Language: English

Published: Charleston, West Virginia, Jun 1995

Language: English

ISSN: 1522-9734

Abstract/Notes: School readiness is an important concern for parents and teachers because it is a multifaceted process which encompasses all the developmental areas and various skills of children rather than only focusing on cognitive and literacy skills. In particular, preschool and first grade teachers experience the positive and negative sides of the process of school readiness. In this study, basic qualitative research was used to compare teachers' views about school readiness. The participants were 35 preschool and 35 first grade teachers and a semi-structured interview protocol developed by the researchers was used to collect data. Qualitative analysis was performed at the end of the study and according to the findings, the following five main themes were determined: definition of school readiness, the effective people and institutions in the school readiness process, preschool education for school readiness, the difficulties encountered in the school readiness process and suggestions for effective school readiness. Also, the findings showed that preschool and first grade teachers tended to have similar views related school readiness.

Language: English

ISSN: 1303-0485

Abstract/Notes: The Hartford Early Childhood Program involves more than 4,500 children from 4 years old to first grade level in over 200 classrooms. Classrooms are designed to offer children an environment that encourages them to learn independently. Ideas have been borrowed from the Montessori approach and the British Infant Schools and fitted to the needs of the Hartford school district's urban students. The program philosophy embodies new approaches that can be used in old school buildings such as formal education beginning at 3 years, mixed-age "family" grouping, interest centers, and emphasis on intrinsic motivation toward personel success. Future plans call for extension of the program to all public school classes in grades K through 2. Sources of more detailed information are provided for this program, specifically, and for Model Programs Childhood Education, in general. (Author/WY)

Language: English

Published: Palo Alto, California, 1970

Language: Catalan

Abstract/Notes: Margaret Naumburg was the charismatic and forceful founder of Waiden School in New York City. She went on to become an acknowledged leader in the “new school” movement, and later, the founder of art therapy in the United States. As art educator Judith Rubin says in her memorial tribute, “had she done nothing more than to found the Waiden School (1914), a place where freedom and discipline in all of the arts were fostered and were considered central to normal children’s healthy development… Dayenu! (‘It would have been enough!’).”1 This chapter examines Margaret Naumburgs life and times, her educational philosophy and its implementation in the Children’s School (Waiden School), and her leadership qualities and style.

Language: English

Published: New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, 2002

ISBN: 978-1-137-05475-3