Weekly Digest: April 30, 2009

CLASP Releases "Reinvesting in Child Care" Series

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) has launched a series of publications and a web page focusing on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and its implementation. The new series provides policy recommendations for spending Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to help more families and improve state economies.

This page can be found on the CLASP website at http://childcareandearlyed.clasp.org/reinvestinginchildcare.html

"Care Packages" for Diversity in Education

Every other month, the Crosswalk Project, which aims to integrate diversity into the preparation and professional development of early childhood educators, creates "care packages" that provide resources on addressing linguistic, cultural, and ability diversity in early education settings.  Each Care Package includes announcements of upcoming professional development opportunities (e.g., Crosswalks Talks), evidence-based content resources, and instructional resources for use in teaching or training.

Past care packages can be downloaded from the Crosswalks website at http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~scpp/crosswalks/pages/carepackages.cfm

Developing Early Literacy: National Early Literacy Panel Report

The National Early Literacy Panel released a report identifying critical early literacy skills that predict later literacy outcomes, and the programs and interventions that are most effective at helping children developing them.  The report also includes a guide for practitioners to translate the research into action. 

This report suggests that a more intentional focus on alphabet knowledge and phonological awareness in early education programs may improve later literacy outcomes.

The National Institute for Early Education Research and other early literacy experts provided additionalcommentary on this report. 

This report can be downloaded from the National Institute for Literacy website at http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/NELP/NELPreport.html