Center on the Developing Child

After reading the article Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, the global program focused on three strategic areas:  it talked about how they plan to energize and reframe the global dialogue around child health beginning in the earliest years of life.  They also plan to educate the key international agencies leadership by establishing a stronger framework for global work and conduct systematic communications to help identify a better way to translate the science for global policymakers of child development.

The article also talked about how they plan to generate new ideas that will help to address the health development needs of young children in several different ways and to focus on both individuals and institutions—in low- and middle-income countries to increase the number and influence of diverse voices and perspectives that are contributing to the growing global movement on behalf of young children.: The Center has begun to build a portfolio of different activities into three domains: early childhood development, child mental health, and children in crisis and conflict situations. Each domain is guided by a group of faculty who are working to facilitate continuing cross-disciplinary collaboration, design and implement new projects beyond the Harvard community.

I really enjoyed reading this particular article.

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, (2010). Global Children’s initiative. Retrieved from http://developingchild Harvard edu/initiatives/global initiative

Consequences of Poverty

Unfortunately, I still have not been contacted with anyone as of yet, so I used more time to research on some of the consequences of poverty.

Over and over again research has shown that children living in poverty suffer in a multitude of ways. Childhood poverty is associated with higher rates of academic failure, grade retention, school drop-outs, teen parenthood and smoking and illegal drug use. Children growing up in poverty are more likely to have employment difficulties as adults. Research also shows that these outcomes are preventable. Findings from the Abecedarian Project—a 30-year old project at the Child Development Institute— demonstrate that intensive early childhood educational intervention can have lasting positive effects for children raised in poverty. What’s more, the program resulted in decreased government spending. Yet children living in poverty today do not have access to this type of initiative.

These are some of the things that happen to children who are living in Poverty:

Children raised in poverty:

• Have poorer academic achievement outcomes than other children.

• Are less likely to attend college. While 88 percent of affluent students attend college, only 36 percent of raised in poverty do so.

• Are more likely to become a teen parent.

• Are more likely to smoke and use illegal drugs.

• Are more likely to be unemployed.

• Poverty during early childhood is correlated with lower adult income.
• Childhood poverty causes lasting effects on the brain and on the way DNA is expressed.
• Because early childhood is so important, researchers advise policies to address these problems should focus on the youngest children.

Existing Research on Early Educational Programs for Poor Children

Numerous early childhood programs have been created over the years to attempt to redress the negative consequences of poverty. Below is a brief summary of research on some of these efforts.

Head Start Research in the early nineties which seemed to show that Head Start had no lasting impact on poor children’s school performance received much attention, despite significant problems with the study’s methodology. A more recent study which met standard research protocols showed that after participating in Head Start for a year, children had some improvement in language and pre-reading outcomes and access to health care; and no significant effect for math.

I have to agree with them on how they say that Head Start children had some major improvement in language and etc. I am a Head Start teacher, and the program has all type of Mental Health Specialists to come in to evaluate children who may be suffering with some type of mental behavioral disorder, or even if the child has an IEP.

Just from reading the little information I did read, I was able to understand some of the ways children suffer from different things who are living in poverty. We will never know some of the things that children suffer from who are living in poverty until we do a research on them.

References:

news.discovery.com/.../poverty-children-income-adults.html

Poverty in Russia

Poverty in Russia

I visited the website Poverty in Russia. Government changes have been difficult for many people in Russia. Reduced social assistance has been one of the results of democracy on Russians.

Since the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, the transition has been difficult for many Russians. It has been an enormous adjustment that they were not prepared for. Many poor people frequently express the view that they were better off under communism.

With the sudden shift to a market economy and privatization of public enterprises, tons of industries collapsed. This led to more unemployment, lost or reduced social assistance and wage arrears for many. Some are offered “payment in kind” but this is obviously not a preferred payment method because it doesn’t give people what they need.

The proportion of poverty in Russia ranges between 19 and 49% depending on who is doing the study and what data they are using.

• Studies indicate only 8% of social assistance reaches the poorest tenth of the population and one fifth of poor households receive nothing at all. Government cutbacks have cut into maternity benefits as well. In 1991 maternity benefits accounted for 77.3% of the total amount of funds but by 2003, it was only 32.4%.

Russians describe normal life

Almost half of the people participating in "Russian’s Voices of the Poor" study said they were not poor in childhood. Participants express what they consider a “normal life” and that is characterized by what they had under communism. In Teikovo, a participant defined a normal life as “having a regular job with a good, regular salary, and the possibility to buy food, new clothes, and medicine.” Another said, “A good life is when you drink coffee every morning, butter your bread and buy sugar to make your life sweet.”

• Is a Diagnosis of Asperger's Really Important?
• The '60s - Full of Hope and Despair in U.S. Domestic Policy
• Why Women Use Russian Marriage Agencies

• Corruption and organized crime has also escalated along with the new government. Numerous participants describe how they are sometimes tempted to break laws out of desperation..

When families face increased financial hardships, alcoholism and divorce tend to increase. Frustration at being idle can lead some to drink more, which increases the conflict in the home adding further stress to families. Sometimes women become the main breadwinners and that can be humiliating to men who have traditionally provided for their families.

• Divorced women often have the added burden of becoming the sole provider to their family. They are frequently stuck accepting low paying and/or demeaning jobs. This is an unfortunate occurrence all over the world and not just in Russia. Most employers are no longer providing schools and daycare centers for children in Russia. This leaves single parents struggling more than they did before.

I found this to be very interested on how divorced women are the sole provider to their families. Here in the United States, men are the sole provider and the majority of the men are out working on the job to provide for their families.

Suggested Changes in Russia

• Legal action needs to be taken against those who are not paying fair wages.

• Better social assistance programs need to be implemented for children and the elderly in Russia. This would help ensure that they received proper food, health care, education, childcare and housing.

Professionally, this has given me a clearer view on how I look at things here in the United States with our children compared to how the Russian women are are struggling each day to be the sole provider to their families. I know now that I should be thankful that I am not in that situation.

 Sources: (Study, The Russian Federation: Struggling Against the Tide, Alexey Levinson, Olga Stouchevskaya, Oxana Bocharova, Anton Lerner) (Child Poverty in Russia, UNICEF, Dr.Lilia Ovcharova, Daria Popova)

 Poverty in Russia: Russians Struggle to Adjust to Western Ideal of Democracy | Suite101.com http://sandrawilliams.suite101.com/poverty_in_russia-a30321#ixzz1YvxSO43a

Sharing Web Resources

I chose National Association for Early Childhood Teachers Educators so that I can learn how to promote and support teacher research and in stressing the importance of research on children.

The National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE) in conjunction with the Editorial Board of the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education (JECTE) invites applications for the next editor of The Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education. The appointment will be for a period of four years with the possibility of subsequent renewals. It is anticipated that the new editor will begin assuming editorship responsibilities immediately after the NAECTE Governing Board approves the appointment in June 2012. Individuals or teams can apply in configurations that include a single editor, an editor with an associate editor, or co-editors.

PURPOSE OF THE NAECTE FOUNDATION

The NAECTE Foundation is a 501(c) tax-exempt organization that raises funds for the benefit of early childhood teacher educators and the children and communities they serve.  The goals of the NAECTE Foundation are:

• Advocacy of NAECTE goals;
• Promotion and support of research projects related to Early Childhood Teacher Education; and
• Provision of scholarships for early childhood teacher education students.

FOUNDATION AWARDS

One of the goals of the NAECTE Foundation is to promote and support research projects related to early childhood teacher education.  Through NAECTE conferences and publications, many NAECTE members have developed their capacities as researchers. As an extra incentive and added recognition, the NAECTE Foundation offers a monetary award to encourage early childhood teacher educators to conduct research that will have relevance for policy and advocacy in the area of early childhood teacher education.

Issues And Trends In The Early Childhood Field

On contacting two professionals outside the United States has not been  a easy task to do. The purpose is to learn from other countries their trends and issues in the professionals field.
As I sat thinking about where to start looking for two professionals from other countries, one came in mind, my dear old friend Dr. Kholvoska from Russia where she  taught Pre-K but os now teaching Early Childhood Education at The University of Mobile in Alabama. I spoke with Dr. K briefly about the trends and issues in Russia and she promise to get back with me in a couple of days.

I was not able to contact a second person but I will continue to do so throughout the week.
I chose the site National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators to study during this course.