Ensure young learners transition to kindergarten successfully. This tool kit is an ideal planning resource for early childhood professionals as they coordinate a successful transition to kindergarten that benefits children, their families, and schools. Using an anti-bias lens throughout, this updated edition incorporates current best practices in the field while also considering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on kindergarten readiness. Filled with information, advice, and activities, Ready for Kindergarten includes discussion questions, reproducible checklists, and assessment and planning templates to help you prepare children for the transition to kindergarten.

This report, ninth in a series, is designed to indicate progress made by the United States toward the eight National Education Goals. Following a statement of the eight Goals, part 1 explains the nature and purposes of the Goals. Part 2, "Summary of Progress to Date," evaluates national and state progress made toward these goals since 1990, the year they were established, placing emphasis on state improvement over time. Part 3 summarizes national progress, and part 4 summarizes state progress for each goal for the 34 state indicators. Much has been accomplished, but progress toward the Goals has not been uniform across the Goals or across the states. Much more must be done, particularly with regard to teacher education and professional development, mathematics and science achievement, the reduction of drug and alcohol use, and the promotion of safe and orderly schools. Three appendixes contain technical notes and sources for national and state indicators and acknowledgments. (Sld).

Making the transition into kindergarten is a significant and exciting milestone in young children's lives. With proper coordination and planning, it can be a smooth process, benefiting children, families, and schools. Is Everybody Ready for Kindergarten? provides early childhood professionals with information and practical advice to help children and their families prepare for the transition and then successfully begin kindergarten. Helpful activities and reproducible checklists and handouts are included.

Activities from birth to age 5 help your child develop socially, mentally, and physically. Guidelines for what to expect from your child at each age level. Drawings.

This book argues that issues of sexual diversity are inextricably interwoven into the basic concerns of pre-service teacher education. How do we make our students aware of assumptions regarding masculinity, femininity, and sexuality that arise from what is presented, represented, or omitted from curricula and classroom practice? What do we say about homophobia and heterosexism as we anticipate the administrative hierarchies, school cultures, parent and community politics they will encounter as teachers? What special challenges might face a teacher (straight or gay) who discusses sexual orientation in a high school classroom, or responds to a homophobic remark in the hallway or the cafeteria? How should we prepare a teacher for a parent conference with two moms or two dads? The essays in this volume range from an analysis of gay stereotypes in teacher education textbooks, to a discussion of queer multiculturalism, to personal accounts by lesbian and gay teacher educators and heterosexual allies who are challenging homophobia and heterosexism in their own classrooms and programs. All agree that education for sexual diversity is as important as education about all other forms of difference, and that future teachers need to know how to create safe spaces for lesbian and gay students, along with the children of gay families who are increasingly a part of the classroom landscape.

Early childhood education has reached a level of unprecedented national and international focus. Parents, policy makers, and politicians have opinions as well as new questions about what, how, when, and where young children should learn. Teachers and program administrators now find curriculum discussions linked to dramatic new understandings about children's early learning and brain development. Early childhood education is also a major topic of concern internationally, as social policy analysts point to its role in a nation's future economic outlook. As a groundbreaking contribution to its field, this four-volume handbook discusses key historical and contemporary issues, research, theoretical perspectives, national policies, and practices.

This book will support teachers, counselors, and administrators in creating a culturally relevant, school-wide, college-going culture to improve educational experiences and outcomes for Black and Latina/o youth. The authors present the perspectives and experiences of 25 students, focusing on the complexities of their daily lives and illuminating some of the significant influences that have supported or hindered their college readiness and access. They situate issues of college access in a national context, provide insight into who and what influences youths college-going processes, and engage readers in critical analysis to create culturally relevant policies and practices within their own school contexts.

Despite the promise of competency-based education (CBE), learner-centered issues related to support, retention, and program completion rates remain problematic. In addition, the infrastructure for higher education, including issues related to faculty (intellectual property, workload, and curriculum), pose barriers and challenges in the design, development, implementation, and delivery of CBE. In response, administrators, faculty, designers, and developers of competency-based experiences must incorporate innovative strategies that are foreign to the traditional institution. A strong emphasis on retention and graduation rates must surround the student with support, starting with the design and development of the CBE system. There are few resources that can help prepare instructional designers, advisors, academic administrators, and faculty to meet the many challenges of designing, developing, implementing, and managing CBE. Career Ready Education Through Experiential Learning is an essential reference book that includes strategies for design and development of competency-based education (CBE) programs, as well as administrative and delivery strategies as examples of how CBE can be implemented. Through a strong theoretical framework, chapters present the best practices, strategies, and practical tips as examples and scenarios that can be used in higher education settings. While highlighting education courses, programs, and lessons across various institutions and educational domains, this book is ideal for higher education administrators and policy designers/implementors, instructional designers, curriculum developers, faculty, public policy leaders, students in curriculum and instruction and instructional technology programs, along with researchers and practitioners interested in CBE and experiential learning in higher education.