Final Blog Assignment

First, I would like to thank everyone for reading and complementing on my blog. Your comments have been insightful and professional.

Secondly, I have learned that internationally and domestically, we are facing, researching, analyzing and strategizing some of the same issues and concerns impacting our young children. Because of this fact, I feel partnering with international professionals and resources are essential to combating issues and trends of the early childhood field.

Thirdly, the early childhood education field needs to partner with international resources to promote advocacy and awareness. For example, the partners can create a collaboration of a website, write articles to publish in journals collaborate with colleges and universities and hold benefits are some ways to bring awareness of issues and trend that are affecting the early childhood education field.

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

I reviewed the website http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/), and focused on the link named Access. Some main points of this website include:                                 

·         The 1990 Jomtien Declaration for Education for All stated that learning begins at birth. A decade later, the 2000 Dakar Framework for Action reaffirmed the importance of early childhood by including the development of early childhood care and education as the first of its six main goals.

·         Governments were particularly urged to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting policy in favor of the poor.

·         Countries often promote alternative services for poor children with limited or no access to mainstream early childhood services which can be cost-effective and pedagogically innovative but often raise concerns about sustainability and quality.

·         Lastly, Privileged children of the target age group benefit from state investment, while poor children of non-target ages receive scant government attention. A policy of universalisation with targeting can minimize inequity where governments aim for universal access among the target age group, but simultaneously prioritize the poor.

Sharing Web Resources # 2

I have been studying the Office of Head Start website. This website has a lot of useful information that I am able to apply to my current position. As I explored the website I found an Article called Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Call To Action that talks about the effort made to establish a network of services for grandparents raising grandchildren. The article also highlights when the parents are not able to raise their children, it is often the grandparents who step in to assume this responsibility. This article also offers statistical data for example, on average, 28% of grandparent caregivers are over age 60, as many as 30% live in poverty, and at least 32% have cared for their grandchildren 5 or more years (U.S. Census Bureau, 2006).

I research a part of the website called Reports. This section of the website contains statistical data. The Office of Head Start shows:

• 11.5 percent of the Head Start enrollment consisted of children with disabilities, (mental retardation, health impairments, visual handicaps, hearing impairments, emotional disturbance, speech and language impairments, orthopedic handicaps and learning disabilities).
• 44,109 children participated in home-based Head Start program services.
• 77 percent of Head Start teachers have at least an AA degree in Early Childhood Education.
• 26 percent of Head Start program staff members were parents of current or former Head Start children. More than 850,000 parents volunteered in their local Head Start program.
• 94 percent of Head Start children had health insurance. 82 percent of those with health insurance were enrolled in the Medicaid/Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program or a state sponsored child health insurance program.
• The 1994 reauthorization of the Head Start Act established the Early Head Start program for low-income families with infants and toddlers. In Fiscal Year 2009, $709 million was used to support more than 650 programs which provided Early Head Start child development and family support services in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. These programs served more than 66,000 children under the age of three.
• More than 228,000 Head Start fathers participated in organized regularly scheduled activities designed to involve them in Head Start and Early Head Start programs.

I do not receive newsletters however the office of head start has provided an alternative website called ECLKC that contains newsletters and article that pertains to early childhood education.  The office of Head Start revised Child Development and Early Learning Framework . Three additional domains have been added: Logic & Reasoning; Social Studies knowledge & Skills; English language Development

I think the Office of Head Start has a huge focus on equity and excellence.  The statistical data provides a glance into what head start offers children and families.