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Volume X, Number 2, Summer 2004 Issue Topic: Early Childhood Programs and EvaluationThis issue of The Evaluation Exchange charts the course of early childhood programming and evaluation over nearly half a century. Contributing authors offer a range of views on how best to communicate the importance of investing in a child’s early years and how to improve early childhood programs and policies. Several articles consider the explosion of science—from longitudinal studies of child outcomes to a large-scale demonstration program—that has helped forward our understanding of how young children learn and grow. Finally, a number of articles suggest that better information is needed to close the persistent gap in achievement between children from low-income families and those from middle-income homes. |
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From the Director's Desk
An introduction to the issue on Early Childhood Programs and Evaluation by HFRP's Founder & Director, Heather B. Weiss, Ed.D.
From the Guest EditorThe Current State of Early Childhood Education
Lisa Klein, guest editor for this issue, reflects on the progress made inthe early childhood field over the past 40 years and on the work that still has to be done.
Theory & PracticeEvaluating Early Childhood Services: What's Really Behind the Curtain
Jack Shonkoff, dean of the Heller School at Brandeis University, describes the highly politicized environment of program evaluation and its attendant challenges.
Promising PracticesTransitioning to School: Policy, Practice, and Reality
Robert Pianta of the University of Virginia's the Curry School of Education discusses helping young children to better transition from preschool to kindergarten and into the early years of grade school.
Promising PracticesNorth Carolina's Smart Start Initiative: A Decade of Evaluation Lessons
Donna Bryant and Karen Ponder describe the past 10 years of evaluating North Carolina's nationally recognized early childhood initiative.
Ask the ExpertClosing the Achievement Gap: Head Start and Beyond
Ed Zigler, Ron Haskins, and G. Reid Lyon discuss the past and future of Head Start, the country's first federally funded early childhood program.
Beyond Basic TrainingThe Road From Research to Outcomes
Jana Martella, from the Council of Chief State School Officers, describes a data-driven approach to developing and integrating policy into the nation's school systems.
Beyond Basic TrainingThoughts on Early Childhood Research: Improving Connections
Marilou Hyson and Heather Biggar, from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, offer ideas for how stakeholders in early childhood can share research results.
Beyond Basic TrainingLearning a New Language: Effectively Communicating Early Childhood Research to State Legislators
Jack Tweedie, from the National Conference of State Legislatures, explains how to convey research to legislators in ways likely to influence their policymaking.
Beyond Basic TrainingSupporting Governors' Early Childhood Policy Decisions: The Role of Research
Anna Lovejoy, from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, describes how the organization keeps governors informed about emerging issues in early childhood.
Questions & AnswersA Conversation With Art Rolnick
Economist Art Rolnick discusses his approach to early childhood investment, which he describes as “economic investment in human capital.”
SpotlightThe Home Visit Forum: Understanding and Improving the Role of Home Visitation
Heather Weiss, HFRP director, describes a consortium of national organizations working to improve home visitation models.
SpotlightPrivate Foundations and the Move Toward Universal Preschool
Infant-Toddler Intervention on the Road to School Readiness: Lessons From Early Head Start
Helen Raikes, John Love, and Rachel Chazan-Cohen from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation team discuss the importance of intervention in the early years.
SpotlightRethinking the Evaluation of Family Strengthening Strategies: Beyond Traditional Program Evaluation Models
Charles Bruner of the Child and Family Policy Center outlines three factors of good family strengthening programs that evaluators are not adequately measuring in their evaluations.
SpotlightIdentifying School Readiness Indicators to Stimulate Policy Action
Elizabeth Burke Bryant and Catherine Walsh, of Rhode Island Kids Count, give an account of the School Readiness Indicators Initiative.
SpotlightEarly Head Start: Further Lessons
Catherine Ayoub and Barbara Pan, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, describe their work collecting and analyzing longitudinal data to supplement national findings from the Early Head Start study.
Evaluations to WatchThe Build Initiative: An Evaluation of State-Level System-Building Efforts
Barbara Gebhard of Build describes the initiative's interactive evaluation approach.
Evaluations to WatchEarly to Read: A Local Emergent Literacy Initiative
This article describes a Knight Foundation early literacy initiative in Philadelphia and its ongoing evaluation.
New & Noteworthy
An annotated list of organizations and initiatives related to the issue's theme of Early Childhood Programs and Evaluation.
This issue of The Evaluation Exchange was published by Harvard Family Research Project, edited by Lisa Klein, guest editor, and Marielle Bohan-Baker, contributing editor. The issue was produced by Stacey Miller, publications/communications manager and Tezeta Tulloch, publications editor. All rights reserved. This periodical may not be reproduced whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. To request reprint permission, email hfrp_pubs@gse.harvard.edu.
Harvard Family Research Project gratefully acknowledges the support of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of Harvard Family Research Project and do not necessarily reflect the view of our funders.
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