eNotes
April 1, 2016In this Issue:
- Special Education Research Grant Competitions Announced Source: National Center for Special Education Research - March 31, 2016
- New Prevalence Estimates of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Released Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - March 31, 2016
- Evidence of Impacts and Economic Returns from National, State, and Local Preschool Programs Source: RAND Corporation - March 29, 2016
- The Building Blocks of High-Quality Early Childhood Education Programs Source: Learning Policy Institute - Retrieved March 27, 2016
- Equity Starts Early: How Chiefs Will Build High-Quality Early Education Source: Council of Chief State School Officers - March 24, 2016
- Indicators of Progress to Support Integrated Early Childhood Professional Development Systems Source: National Association for the Education of Young Children - March 23, 2016
1. Special Education Research Grant Competitions Announced
The following funding announcements for FY 2017 grant competitions were recently released:
2. New Prevalence Estimates of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Released
New estimates from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network show that for 2012, the overall prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) among the ADDM sites was 14.6 per 1,000 (one in 68) children aged 8 years. Estimated prevalence was significantly higher among boys (23.6 per 1,000) than girls (5.3 per 1,000) and among white children (15.5 per 1,000) than black children (13.2 per 1,000) and Hispanic children (10.1 per 1,000). Disparities by race/ethnicity and disparities in the age of earliest comprehensive evaluation and presence of a previous ASD diagnosis or classification, suggest that access to treatment and services might be lacking or delayed for some children. Estimated prevalence varied widely among the 11 ADDM Network sites. To learn more see, Prevalence and Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 8 Years - Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2012 (April 1, 2016).
3. Evidence of Impacts and Economic Returns from National, State, and Local Preschool Programs
A new report examines the research evidence available to answer the following questions: (1) Do high-quality preschool programs produce favorable effects for participating children and their families, what are the magnitudes of the impacts, and how long do the beneficial effects last? and (2) Is there evidence of a positive return on investment when public dollars are used to pay for such programs? The report draws on evidence from rigorous evaluations of full-scale U.S. preschool programs implemented at the national, state, and local levels. The evidence of impacts for universal versus targeted programs and for programs of varying intensity is included.
Full citation: Karoly, Lynn A. and Anamarie Auger. (2016). Informing Investments in Preschool Quality and Access in Cincinnati: Evidence of Impacts and Economic Returns from National, State, and Local Preschool Programs. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.
4. The Building Blocks of High-Quality Early Childhood Education Programs
The Learning Policy Institute recently released a new research brief, The Building Blocks of High-Quality Early Childhood Education Programs (2016), which summarizes the research on high quality early childhood programs and professional standards for early education. The brief highlights key elements of quality and focuses on factors that contribute to meaningful teacher-child interactions.
5. Equity Starts Early: How Chiefs Will Build High-Quality Early Education
On March 24, 2016, the Council of Chief State School Officers published a policy statement, Equity Starts Early: How Chiefs Will Build High-Quality Early Education, which identifies and describes five action steps that can be taken to help build high quality early education programs. These include:
- Engage families and communities in early learning.
- Connect early childhood programs and elementary schools.
- Accelerate improvement and innovation in early childhood programs.
- Build a high performing early childhood workforce.
- Increase investment to provide quality, voluntary early childhood education for all children.
6. Indicators of Progress to Support Integrated Early Childhood Professional Development Systems
A new resource, Build it Better: Indicators of Progress to Support Integrated Early Childhood Professional Development Systems (March 2016), provides a set of indicators of progress toward developing a well-qualified, professional early childhood educator workforce and stronger professional development systems. It was developed to help policy makers, administrators, educators, and other stakeholders work together to improve professional development systems for early childhood educators working with children birth through age 8.