Robert C. Pianta – författare

A smooth transition to kindergarten is an essential part of a child's early academic experience, and this handbook aims to make it happen. It is built around a model that has been adopted in many diverse schools and communities, and aims to help professionals and caregivers. Readers will learn how to form a collaborative team, foster strong social connections among children, families and professionals, and create a ""menu"" of transition activities that can be tailored to each child's needs. Also readers will discover how to anticipate barriers, keep families involved, and conduct ongoing assessment, evaluation, and revision of transition activities. They will learn from the experience of others with insight from real families, educators, and school personnel, plus sample menus of activities they can use in their own homes and classrooms.

The school readiness of young dual language learners depends on high-quality preschool programs that meet their needs— but how should schools promote and measure the progress of children learning two languages? Find out what the research says in this authoritative resource, which investigates the experiences of dual language learners in preschool classrooms and the policy implications of these critical findings.The most comprehensive, up-to-date research volume on this topic, this book is a must for policy makers and administrators serving the growing number of dual language learners in today's classrooms. Presenting the eye-opening results of their observational studies of early education classrooms, more than 25 experts give readers the invaluable insights they'll need to-assess the quality of instruction and classroom practices with sensitive, reliable measurement tools-identify and strengthen factors that contribute to the development of English language proficiency-determine whether instruction in children's home language helps them develop school readiness skills-ensure a culturally responsive classroom environment that promotes gains in both languages-support the teacher-child relationship, vital to promoting language and literacy development-understand and improve the early learning experiences of low-income dual language learners-shape future research efforts and policy decisions with a helpful synthesis of the research in this volumeWith this compendium of current research— sure to influence preschool practices for years to come— policy makers and administrators will have the foundational knowledge they need to ensure a high-quality, appropriate education for young children learning two languages.

Professional development practices that really improve child outcomes that's what every early childhood education program needs. With this authoritative research volume, administrators and policy makers will discover the latest findings on best professional development practices and learn how to scale up successful efforts across an entire district or state. Based on the annual leadership symposium of the National Centre for Research on Early Childhood Education (NCRECE), this book is a must for anyone engaged in high-level efforts to ensure teacher quality. Through clear explanations of cutting-edge research from two dozen respected contributors, readers will: investigate specific, field-tested professional development (PD) models that improved both teacher practice and child outcomes (with a spotlight on Robert Pianta's effective MyTeachingPartner framework) learn how these models helped educators teach academic content areas (early literacy, math, and science) and improve children's social-emotional skillsexamine positive teacher attributes that PD efforts should target, such as increased self-regulation skills and reduced cognitive overloaddiscover success strategies for scaling up professional development efforts through existing infrastructure and more investment in teacher quality (includes an extended case study on a comprehensive PD program in Texas) explore the policy implications of the professional development interventions described in this volume Essential reading for early childhood administrators, policy makers, and researchers, this important book will help bring about widespread improvements in professional development programs key to advancing teacher quality and better outcomes for young children.

In this visionary effort, students take the lead in reimagining public education for the twenty-first century, advocating for a more active, personalized, and relational approach to learningTwenty-first century youth are hungry for new ways to learn. Their world is global, mobile, and rich with opportunities previous generations couldn't possibly have imagined. As they make clear in this book, the old standards of schooling no longer apply. In Kids on Earth, Howard Blumenthal and Robert C. Pianta go straight to the source to rethink public education for the five billion young minds likely to learn by 2050, asking students about learning for their future.Blumenthal and Pianta interview children and teenagers from more than seventy countries, along with parents, teachers, and learning experts, to build, from their perspectives, a scalable global framework for radical educational change. 'New School', in contrast to old school, is a foundational concept with three guiding pillars: learning is active, learning is personal, and learning is relational. Its teachings emphasize cognitive science, memory, and relationships- aligning learning with contemporary lived experience. New School also appreciates 'Not School', external instruction that involves media, technology, and other forms of learning. Integrating these spheres, Blumenthal and Pianta argue, would better reflect our hyperconnected, innovative world, motivating students to succeed within it.Kids on Earth calls not for reform but reinvention, an ambitious, all-hands-on-deck effort to remake school for current and future generations, preparing them best for global citizenship. Unlike many books on education, this volume gives kids the chance to make it alright.