For Other Professionals
Recommended links
Early literacy
Clicking on a link below will take you to the organization's web site.
Between the Lions is an award-winning PBS children's series designed to help young children learn to read. The Web site includes games and materials from the show, including a literacy curriculum aimed at children ages 4-7.
Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement, University of Michigan
The model that underlies CIERA's research efforts acknowledges many influences on children's reading acquisition: readers and texts, home and school, and policy and profession. CIERA's task goes beyond finding answers to persistent problems in reading through research to disseminating those solutions to people who impact children's early reading achievement: teachers, teacher educators, parents, policymakers, and others.
CONNECT: The Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge
CONNECT is developing web-based, instructional resources for faculty and other professional development providers that focus on and respond to challenges faced each day by those working with young children with disabilities and their families. The modules help build practitioners’ abilities to make evidence-based decisions.
Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program (ECEPDP)
The Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program of the U.S. Department of Education promotes school readiness and improved learning outcomes of young children by providing high-quality professional development programs to improve the knowledge and skills of early childhood educators and caregivers who work in early childhood programs located in high-poverty communities and who serve primarily children from low-income families. ECEPDP projects must utilize evidence-based practice focused on early reading and cognitive development for both the professional development activities and early childhood curricula.
The Early Reading First Program of the U.S. Department of Education helps prepare children to enter kindergarten with the necessary language, cognitive, and early reading skills to prevent reading difficulties and ensure academic success. This website describes the program's key components and operation.
Even Start works to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving the educational opportunities of the Nation's low-income families by integrating early childhood education, adult literacy or adult basic education, and parenting education into a unified family literacy program.
Jumpstart brings college students and community volunteers together with preschool children in low-income communities for a full school year of individualized mentoring and tutoring. Jumpstart's research-based curriculum is focused on building language, literacy, social and emotional skills in preschool children.
National Association for the Education of Young Children
NAEYC is the nation's largest and most influential organization of early childhood educators and others dedicated to improving the quality of programs for children from birth through third grade.
National Center for Research on Early Childhood Education (NCRECE)
The NCRECE conducts research, disseminates research findings, and conducts leadership activities aimed at improving the quality of early childhood education across the United States. The center will conduct a professional development study, a randomized controlled evaluation, of the effects of two forms of teacher training. It will also conduct fast response studies to address immediate needs of policymakers.
This clearinghouse collects, analyzes, synthesizes, and disseminates information about language instruction educational programs for English language learners and related programs. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education OELA, it provides extensive information and links through its website.
National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC)
NECTAC works to strengthen state and local service systems to ensure that children with disabilities (birth through 5 years) and their families receive and benefit from high-quality, evidence-based, culturally appropriate, and family-centered supports and services.
National Even Start Association
The mission of the National Even Start Association is to provide a national voice and vision for Even Start Family Literacy programs. The purpose of the Even Start Family Literacy Program is to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving the educational opportunities for families. This is accomplished by integrating early childhood education, adult literacy and adult basic education, and parenting education into a unified literacy program. Even Start is implemented nationally through cooperative projects that build on existing community resources, creating a new range of services for children families and adults.
The NICHD supports research that specifies the experiences children need from birth to age eight to help them learn to read and ultimately succeed in school. The Child Development and Behavior Branch of the Center for Research for Mothers and Children includes the Early Learning and School Readiness Program, which integrates basic and applied research on early learning and development. Information about the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development and the Early Child Care Research Network also can be found on the website.
PBS Kids is made up of over a dozen sites connected to PBS characters. PBS Kids is a noncommercial, safe, and educational online space, just for kids. Online games, writing, and Did You Know sections are created with educational goals in mind.
Ready To Learn is public broadcasting's on-going contribution to the fulfillment of the first national education goal — that by the year 2000, all American children will begin school ready to learn. PBS and its member stations are working towards achieving this goal for children in a number of ways: offering a full line-up of high-quality PBS children's programming based on specific educational goals, both on-air and online; creating interactive online resources for kids and their caregivers; producing special on-air educational messages that teach kids important skills; presenting community outreach and educational materials for neighborhoods; and offering TV Tips for Parents.
Here you'll find information about your child's development, fun educational activities, information about PBS KIDS programs, and much more!
Phonological Awareness and Literacy Screening (PALS)
PALS is funded through Virginia Reads grants and the University of Virginia. The PALS website includes: 1) a section where teachers return their class scores to UVA and receive an immediate summary report, 2) a page where principals and district representatives can receive summaries of their schools' PALS scores, and 3) more than a hundred instructional suggestions and activities, based on PALS screening sections.
Reach Out and Read is a national program that seeks to make early literacy an integral part of pediatric primary care. Pediatricians encourage parents to read aloud to their young children and give books to their patients to take home at all pediatric check-ups from six months to five years of age. Parents learn that reading aloud is the most important thing they can do to help their children love books and to start school ready to learn.
Time to choose a preschool? If so, you may want to check out the Savvy Source, a website for parents by parents. By entering your zip code, you can read about preschools in your area. They've gathered information and seek reviews from other parents. The site has lots of other ideas for preschool crafts, games and books.
Zero to Three is the nation's leading resource on the first three years of life. Zero to Three is a national nonprofit charitable organization whose aim is to strengthen and support families, practitioners and communities to promote the healthy development of babies and toddlers.
