Key factors and challenges of research-informed policy making in ECEC: examples from longitudinal studies International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy - Tập 11 - Trang 1-17 - 2017
Janina Eberhart, Sophie Hahn, Carolyn Seybel
In this commentary, we draw on examples from the thematic issue ‘Longitudinal studies in ECEC—challenges of translating research results into policy actions’ to discuss how research from longitudinal studies in ECEC can potentially inform policy making. Thereby, we point out the challenges in the relationship between research and policy and suggest three key factors that can promote the impact of meaningful research in policy decisions. The first factor comprises aligning research questions with policy priorities as well as research and policy making processes. In an attempt to systematise existing forms of research and policy interaction, we present ideal–typical models of collaboration and relate them to studies in this thematic issue. Second, we argue that research used in policy decisions should rely on sound methodology, including state of the art techniques of sampling as well as reliable and valid measures. While acknowledging that various research designs are required to get a bigger picture of the complexity of ECEC, we call attention to the particular potential of longitudinal studies to inform policy making. Third, we stress the importance of disseminating research results to different stakeholders and outline challenges of translating research findings into policy decisions. Finally, in the outlook, we discuss how collaboration between ECEC research and policy making can be increased and which barriers need to be overcome.
Social Investment Policies in Canada, Australia, Japan, and South Korea International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy - Tập 5 - Trang 41-53 - 2015
Ito Peng
This paper compares the social investment policy reforms that have been introduced by the two Anglo-Saxon liberal welfare regimes of Canada and Australia and the two East Asian welfare regimes of Japan and South Korea since the 1990s. The paper examines the causes of these social policy changes, and asks why these seemingly different contexts produce such similar policy idea. While all four countries share similar broad ideational template and language of social investment, they differ in terms of their target groups and policy instruments. Whereas Canada and Australia have focused their social investment policies on children through ECEC (what I call an “invest in the future” model); Japan and South Korea have approached social investment from a more general human capital and economic activation perspective (what I call a “human capital activation” model). As a result, social investment policies in these countries have targeted more broadly on children, women, and the elderly. I argue that these differences in social investment approaches stem from the differences in their social, political and economic contexts, and the political economic legacies.
Các phương pháp tiếp cận toàn diện và mục tiêu đến giáo dục mầm non tại Hoa Kỳ International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy - - 2010
W. Steven Barnett
Tóm tắtTại Hoa Kỳ, số lượng trẻ em đăng ký học tại các chương trình mầm non tập trung đã chững lại khoảng 75% đối với trẻ bốn tuổi và 50% đối với trẻ ba tuổi. Gần như tất cả các chương trình của chính phủ đều hạn chế đối tượng cho trẻ em trong các gia đình thu nhập thấp, và những gia đình này đã tăng mạnh tỷ lệ tham gia chương trình mầm non do đó. Tuy nhiên, trong thập kỷ qua, ít có tiến bộ trong việc gia tăng số lượng trẻ em đăng ký, mặc dù chi tiêu của chính phủ đã tăng, và ít hơn một nửa số trẻ em trong các gia đình nghèo tham gia các chương trình công lập ngay cả ở độ tuổi bốn. Chất lượng giáo dục trung bình của các chương trình tư nhân khá thấp, và các chương trình công lập chỉ khá hơn chút ít. Kết quả là, hiệu quả giáo dục của các chương trình mầm non tại Hoa Kỳ có xu hướng yếu hơn nhiều so với các chương trình nghiên cứu nổi tiếng được chứng minh là hiệu quả về mặt chi phí. Bài viết này xem xét liệu giáo dục mầm non tổng hợp công cộng cho mọi trẻ em có thể giải quyết tốt các vấn đề này hay không. Giáo dục mầm non công cộng chung sẽ tiếp cận được nhiều hơn số trẻ em trong các gia đình nghèo và thu nhập thấp. Đối với những chương trình được kiểm tra phương tiện, thu nhập liên tục thay đổi là một mục tiêu khó nắm bắt, trong khi sự kỳ thị liên quan đến các chương trình cho người nghèo cũng hạn chế sự tham gia. Hiệu quả chương trình ít nhất sẽ tương đương trong một chương trình phổ thông như đối với chương trình tập trung vào nhóm cần thiết, và hiệu quả có thể thực sự được cải thiện. Một nguồn tăng cường hiệu quả là ảnh hưởng của đồng học đến việc học. Ngoài ra, các bậc cha mẹ từ các gia đình có thu nhập cao hơn có thể là những người phản đối chất lượng tốt hơn, và sự ủng hộ chính trị cho chất lượng cũng có thể tăng. Trẻ em từ các gia đình có thu nhập trung bình và cao hơn cũng sẽ hưởng lợi từ các chương trình mầm non công cộng được trợ cấp chất lượng cao. Phương pháp tiếp cận phổ thông sẽ tốn kém hơn các chương trình nhắm tới mục tiêu hiện tại, nhưng chuyển từ giáo dục mầm non công cộng nhắm tới mục tiêu sang giáo dục mầm non công cộng bao quát có khả năng mang lại những lợi ích vượt xa chi phí thêm cần thiết.
#preschool education #universal program #targeted program #United States #low-income families #public funding #educational quality #peer effects #political support
Playing well with others: a case study of collective impact in the early care and education policy arena International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy - Tập 14 - Trang 1-23 - 2020
Sarah J. Zuckerman, Amanda L. Garrett, Susan Sarver, Catherine Huddleston-Casas
The quality and quantity of early childhood care and education services have risen as a key reform area for influencing educational and economic outcomes. However, changes in this policy arena are stymied by the fragmentation of this policy arena. Collaborative approaches have been proposed to create systems-level change. Collective impact is one such approach; however, few examples exist in the early childhood care and education literature, especially at the state level. This ethnographic case study conceptualizes collective impact as a policy network capable of change in a fractured policy arena and reports the results from the first year of a statewide collective impact effort examines stakeholder perceptions of mobilization and development of a common agenda, or shared understandings. The results illustrate the importance of relationship building, ongoing attention to common understandings through multiple processes and mechanisms, the importance of the backbone organization, and the need to attend to mindset shifts that accompany early collective impact work.
Childcare Policy in Korea: Current Status and Major Issues International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy - - 2007
Ock Rhee
Abstract
This paper discusses the main policies and efforts aimed at childcare support undertaken by the Korean Government from 2003 to 2007, as well as dealing with the ensuing policy issues which arose as a result of such efforts. This paper also seeks to review the details and implications of the First and Second Policy Scheme of National Childcare Support, as well as those of the Nationwide Survey of Childcare and Early Childhood Education prepared by the Presidential Committee in 2004 and 2005. In addition, this study investigates changes made to major childcare support policy indicators, which can be said to be the output of implementing policy tasks. Some quantitative indicators such as the supply of childcare facilities and childcare budgets indicate clear increases while other indicators, such as teachers’ salaries, the safety condition of facilities, and the actual measurements of the quality of childcare service do not indicate an increase. This paper also discusses some issues of controversy regarding childcare support policies which the government will encounter in the process of policy creation as well as actually undertaking policy projects. These issues include the expansion of public services as opposed to the utilization of private services, support for low-income families as opposed to general support, control of rather than self-regulation of childcare fees, support for institutions as opposed to direct assistance to young children, and maximization rather than the minimization of governmental intervention. This study concludes that Korea’s childcare policies are evolving from a conservative approach to a more progressive one. National welfare and associated policies are expected to continue to move towards a more progressive perspective, despite the diversity of opinion within Korean society over these issues, as evidenced in current debates. This is because general financial support has been greatly increased on an annual basis and this has taken place against the backdrop of a national consensus which has seen a broadening of governmental support for childcare due to the crisis of an ever lowering fertility rate.
Smarter Reform: Moving beyond Single-Program Solutions to an Early Care and Education System in the United States International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy - Tập 2 - Trang 53-68 - 2015
Louise Stoney, Anne Mitchell, Mildred Warner
Proposals to improve early care and education (ECE) in the United States are often based on narrow conceptions of the value, benefits, and appropriate structure of services. The result is an increasing number of initiatives that focus only on a single aspect of the system (e.g., preschool for poor children) and assume this limited intervention can produce large results. This paper argues that to realize ECE’s potential to benefit children, families, and the US economy, the focus of reform proposals must broaden. The paper highlights the need for public investment that recognizes our children’s full worth and that reflects the value of family caregiving by supporting unpaid as well as market care. The paper presents an alternative proposal that takes into account the complexity and special nature of ECE markets and that calls for a range of investment strategies and a commitment to a level of institutional support commensurate with a high-quality ECE system.
Leaping the language gap: strategies for preschool and head start teachers International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy - Tập 9 - Trang 1-17 - 2015
Carolyn Davidson Abel, Jannah Walters Nerren, Hope Elizabeth Wilson
Strategies that promote the development of language skills are recognized as important in early childhood education. For early childhood centers and care providers, there are also additional concerns that interventions which meet these developmental needs are both time and cost effective. This pilot study investigates the effect of indirect language stimulation (ILS) techniques on the receptive and expressive oral language of 4-year-olds, using techniques that can be easily taught to teachers and implemented in the classroom. Two preschool teachers in a southwest rural community in the United States were randomly assigned for instruction over a 6-month period on effective ways of integrating ILS techniques into their regular classroom instruction. Students were assessed with the PPVT-4 (receptive language) and the EVT-2 (expressive language) to determine the effect these techniques had on their English language vocabulary. Results indicate that students in classrooms where teachers received the professional development (n = 31) had significantly higher growth in expressive language scores (p = .012) than students in comparison classrooms (n = 34). This study suggests that a low-cost 2-day training intervention can be beneficial for preschool teachers and their 4-year-old students’ language acquisition.
Understanding and Using Early Learning Standards for Young Children Globally International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy - Tập 7 - Trang 53-66 - 2015
Sharon Lynn Kagan, Elise Castillo, Rebecca E. Gomez, Saima Gowani
Around the world, there is an increasing focus on the importance of the early years, with growing numbers of countries specifying early learning and development standards. The authors find that differences in country context and pre-primary service delivery influence the content and use of standards documents. Generally, within their documents, countries favor either specifying precise indicators of what children should know and be able to do, or including many elements that guide early education more broadly, such as broad learning goals for children and pedagogical guidance for teachers. Although the standards’ documents vary, countries generally use their documents for the purposes of curriculum development, professional development, parent engagement, and national monitoring and evaluation. By using the standards for multiple purposes, early education is better aligned and countries are advancing the integration of their services. Standards have made numerous positive contributions to the early childhood field, but, lacking rigorous outcome evaluations, it is too early to discern the effect of standards on children’s performance and learning. The authors recommend that countries devote greater attention to developing their early childhood infrastructure so that the standards documents are more effectively understood, utilized, and evaluated.
