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| International Step by Step Association - Electronic Newsletter Fall/Winter 2007 |
Discover the World – RELEVANT INITIATIVES, REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONSInternational Research Study Reveals Four Key Teaching Practices in Early Childhood LearningThe IEA Preprimary Project is now completed. As outlined in the research summary and press release, the long term, multi-nation study sponsored by IEA and coordinated by the High/Scope Foundation (Michigan, USA), has uncovered findings that hold great promise for improving children’s language and cognitive performance. The purpose of the study was to identify teaching practices that influence children’s language skills and ability to reason at age 7. In all, the study – the largest of its kind to date – involved initial assessment of more than 5,000 4-year-olds in 15 countries and some 1,800 settings. Researchers in ten of these countries again assessed children in the sample at age 7 and identified four teaching practices that were consistently related to child outcomes across all 10 countries (Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain, Thailand, and the US) that had data at age 7. Controlling for family and cultural influences, researchers found the following:
Request for information from Western Hemisphere Countries – QuestionnaireOn 14-16 November, 2007 the Ministers of Education of the country members of the Organization of American States (OAS) will meet in Colombia to "Understand the State of the Art in Educational Attention to Ages Zero to Three" in the hemisphere. For this reason AMEI-WAECE is preparing a dossier about the preoccupations and needs of Civil Society. To elaborate this report, AMEI-WAECE would like you to answer a few simple questions. Answering these questions will not take more than a couple of minutes and you will be contributing to a great cause—legislators and policy makers will really know the needs and wishes of Civil Society. You can find the questionnaire by visiting http://www.waece.org/propuestasministros_eng.html. United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with DisabilitiesOn 13 December, 2006, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted at the United Nations. The purpose of the Convention is to further human rights for persons with disabilities. The Convention reiterates the tenet that all people with disabilities have the same human rights and freedoms that anyone else is entitled to. Furthermore, the document explicates areas in which adaptations for persons with disabilities are made to effectively foster and exercise their rights. It clarifies and qualifies how all categories of rights apply to persons with disabilities and identifies areas where adaptations have to be made for persons with disabilities to effectively exercise their rights and areas where their rights have been violated, and where protection of rights must be reinforced. The Convention recognized the importance of fostering education for children with disabilities of all ages, and to raise awareness and respect for human rights and diversity in the educational setting. Moreover, the Convention declared that people with disabilities must not be denied access to a primary or secondary education. In March, the Convention was opened for signatories to which 102 countries responded. The amount of signatories set a historical record for a UN Convention on its opening day. The Convention exemplifies a “paradigm shift” in beliefs and approaches to persons with disabilities. Among the ISSA community, the following countries signed on to the Convention: Armenia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, and Slovenia. Take action and urge your country to ratify the UN Convention. Launch of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)In the beginning of October, 50 Europeans launched the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) to promote a more coherent and vigorous European foreign policy in support of Europe's common interests and shared values. Among the fifty founding members are former prime ministers, presidents, European commissioners, current and former parliamentarians and ministers, public intellectuals, and cultural figures from EU member states and candidate countries. The founding members want to move the European Union out of an era of introspection, which deepened after the French and Dutch ‘no’ votes, and force it to face up to its global responsibilities. They have drawn up a Statement of Principles which calls on European heads of state and government to:
Please visit ECFR’s website (www.ecfr.eu) to learn more about this initiative; add your signature to the ECFR Statement of Principles; and join a pan-European community of debate and activism in support of a globally engaged European Union. GFC Launches U-8 Initiative for Early Childhood Development and EducationThe Global Fund for Children (GFC) announced in September a $10 million initiative focused on the needs of children 8 years old and younger. The Under-8 Initiative, or U-8 Initiative, will invest in innovative community-based organizations in 20 countries worldwide and will touch the lives of as many as 500,000 vulnerable children over the next five years. GFC will start fulfilling its commitment by investing $500,000 this year and gradually increasing that amount until $10 million is raised and invested in five years. The fund is encouraging other donors and philanthropists to support the U-8 Initiative and provide quality early childhood development and education programs for the world’s most vulnerable children. In addition to directly supporting community-based organizations, GFC’s U-8 Initiative will raise public awareness of early childhood development and education by developing more children’s books and translating them into other languages. It will also invest in photography and documentary films highlighting innovative programs benefiting children under 8. Search for Global ECD IndicatorsUNICEF hosted a meeting in New York in August to bring together and develop a set of Global ECD Indicators. Follow this link to read the draft report which collates all ECD Standards, indicators, and assessment tools so far developed and proposes a “set of indicators, definitions, and questions.” This paper is being circulated to a wide audience for comments and recommendations. The intent of the meeting was to review indicators and “agree” on a maximum of 10-15 indicators and to identify next steps. New Guidelines To Improve Psychological and Social Assistance in EmergenciesIn September, international humanitarian agencies agreed on a new set of guidelines to address the mental health and psychosocial needs of survivors as part of the response to conflict or disaster. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings clearly state that protecting and promoting mental health and psychosocial well-being is the responsibility of all humanitarian agencies and workers. The guidelines lay out the essential first steps in protecting or promoting people's mental health and psychosocial well-being in the midst of emergencies. They identify useful practices and flag potentially harmful ones, and clarify how different approaches complement one another. The guidelines have a clear focus on social interventions and supports. They emphasize the importance of building on local resources such as teachers, health workers, healers, and women’s groups to promote psychosocial well-being. They focus on strengthening social networks and building on existing ways community members deal with distress in their lives. The guidelines include attention to protection and care of people with severe mental disorders, including severe trauma-induced disorders, as well as access to psychological first aid for those in acute distress. The guidelines stress that the way in which humanitarian aid is provided can have a substantial impact on people’s mental health and psychosocial well-being. Treating survivors with dignity and enabling them to participate in and organize emergency support is essential. These guidelines will be available in different languages and can be obtained from the IASC website, http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc/content/default.asp. New Infant-Toddler language and early literacy activities: Free and ReproducibleDeveloped by Angela Notari-Syverson, Ph.D, and Judy Challoner, M.S., Illustrations: Don Syverson These materials include twenty home and community activities for adults and children birth to three that encourage early language and literacy development. They are appropriate for children with disabilities as well as children who are developing typically. The materials are specifically designed to address the three key skills of 1) language development, 2) sounds and rhythms, and 3) general book and print awareness. To download materials go to www.walearning.com and click on the purple button that says "Free Parent Education Handouts" on the home page. For questions please contact: |