Final blog wk 8 Boozer Y.

Consequences of  learning about  the  international early childhood field.

I have had the opportunity to learn about the field of early childhood education and  care in other countries.  This came through blog assignments and  reading websites.  There are three consequences of learning  about the international early childhood field.
1.  Research and Comparison

2.  Communication

3.  Career Opportunities

Goal
Early childhood  leaders and professionals throughout the world will use the internet to communicate issues and trends and most importantly the proactive approaches to achieve high quality care and education of the world's children.

getting to know your International Contacts Part 3 Boozer Y.

I read the article about UNESCO and ideas or insights that I gained from this article "that it leads the international policy drive for an integrated early childhood care and education system that encompasses both the well being and  holistic development of the child."  I also learned that UNESCO works with member states to develop and strengthen their national capacity to meet  their goal of working with the 2000 Dakar Framework for Action, where they aim to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education for all.  Some of their activities in early childhood focus on upstream policy work with the government officials to review and develop their  National policies affecting children from the age of 0 to 8.
   
    "They promote two useful planning strategies to address the early childhood needs for those under three years of age phasing and partnership.  A phased plan can impel the education sector to eventually respond to the needs of younger children as part of its overall commitment to every childhood.  partnership is another effective strategy.  Social and health sectors are often more closely linked with families. If a partnership is developed with the family the care and education of the younger children will be addressed.  between the years of 1970-1979 UNESCO began to be directly involved in the field of early childhood education in particular pre-primary education and parents education."  By 1979 early childhood programmes was viewed beyond the scope of formal education.  More emphasis was placed on establishing a comprehensive approach to early childhood and fostering on environment conducive to  a child's learning and self expression.  This led to the term Early Childhood Care and Education.

Refernces:  UNESCO retrieved from http:// www. unesco.org/new/ed/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/earlychildhood/

sharing blog resources Boozer Y.

I did not find outside links but I did find another article that was entitled Being Black is not a risk factor:  A strengths- based look at the state of the black child as the newest publication of NBCDI (National Black Child Development Institute) "This publication is designed to challenge the prevailing discourse about Black Children one which over emphasizes limitiations and deficits and does not draw upon the considerable strengths, assests and resilience demonstrated by our Children, families, and communities."  This report also addresses the needs of policymakers, advocates, principals,teachers, parents and others.

     In the coming years this publication will be extended by NBCI by working with affiliates and partners.  The reports will accesses and adores the strengths and needs of Black Children an assist in the development of recommendations for a future research and state policy agenda.

     I search the article entitled "Supporting Educational Excellence for African Americans Beginning at Birth which came from the NBCDI this article talks about how "ensuring that African American students grow up to become successful and healthy adults is to give them access to high- quality early education.  To accomplish this the  WHUEEAA ( White House Intuitive on Education Excellence) is working with members of faith and community based organizations and the early education advocacy community to raise awareness among parents and families about the importance of investing in children's well being during the critical early years."

     The article Supporting Educational Excellence adds to my understanding of equity because their goal is to make sure that all African Americans students have access to high quality, early learning opportunities that could start as early as birth.
 
     Other issues and trends that I gained this week is stated by Ackerman and Barnett, 2005 " that neither zip code nor skin tone should predetermine the quality of a child's opportunities. We should educate, motivate  and inspire parents to excellence as their children's first and most important teachers through NBCDI culturally relevant and researched based curriculum.

Refernces:
Johns, D. J., Supporting Educational Excellence For African Americans Beginning at Birth

Being Black is not a risk factor:  A strength-based look at the state of the black child 

Sharing web resources blogger Wk 4 Boozer Y.

The specific information that seems relevant to my professional development  is the focus on cultural, ecological and structural forces that enhance minority children's capabilities in different domains, and across different development periods as well as identify pathways to positive development.  That is defined as research that focus on adaptation and adjustment rather that maladjustment and adversity.

     The idea/statement that made me think about an issue in anew  way is being label "at risk" is like being voted least likely to succeed.  For where there is no faith in your future success, there is no real effort to prepare you for it.

What information does the website contain that adds to your understanding of how economists, neuroscientists,or politicians support the early childhood they support by using achievement gap which is supported by data indicating the the gap begins prior to school, especially for young black boys.  There are many reasons for the achievement gap, and many intertwined solutions.  One of the most prominent suggestions is to focus not on the achievement gap itself, but on the opportunity gap that exists for black children and their families.  However, this gap is deeply entrenched in the social political and historical contexts of the lives of black families and children since the enslavement period.  Research is clear that parenting and family processes provide an avenue for successfully addressing the gap experienced by black children, yet it is critical that we ask how parents are supported in ways  that are culturally relevant and strength based.

     The other insights that I gained In examining the literature on what can raise achievement and close performance gaps, some other insights have been revealed.  In addressing educational disparities, it is important to distinguish between two categories of reform activities,. Technocratic and transactional.
Technocratic solutions have clearly been one to which educational decision makers have most often subscribed.  They entail changes in school proceedings, regulatory practices and structural factors around which schooling is unorganized.  Examples of these reforms include extending the school day or the school year, reducing class size, actualizing school choices or reconstituting schools.   Transactional solutions which concern efforts to optimize the learning exchanges that transpire inside the classroom and other learning settings between teachers , students, and among students themselves.

My reference that  I used was a United States website - The  National Black Child Development Institute
   retrieved from http://nbcdi.org/

Getting to know your International Part 1 Boozer 1

I had to do the website of the childhood Poverty Research Policy Centre's http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/.
My research I looked into Identifying the "Bottom Billion:  Beyond National Averages Multidimensional poverty:  Enriching methadologies of measurement & policy.

Multidimensional poverty measures enable us to  identify who is poor, how poor they are, and what policies will most effectively eradicate their poverty.  This note has shown the importance of creating poverty measures that can be disaggreated in different ways:  by subnational region and even down to the individual level.

Geography of poverty is changing and increasingly large number of the world's poor are living in Middle Income Countries.  MPI is a direct measure of poverty and can be easily compared across subnational regions and indeed across individuals living indifferent countries.  MPI uses the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys( DHS).

The multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is a measure of acute multidimensional poverty published in the UNDP Human Development Reports for over 100 developing countries since 2010.  Developed- Three Dimensions of Poverty  are Healthy, Education, Living Standard.

sharing web resources

The organization that I  choose was National Black Child Development Institute and the link for them is:
http://nbcdi.org/

National Black Child Development Institute(NBCDI) "focus is on achieving positive outcomes for vulnerable children who suffer from the legacies of poverty and racial discrimination.  The organization was launched by the Black Women's Community Development Foundation, whose leadership in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, was deeply concerned about the unsatisfactory  , conditions faced by families determined to raise healthy black children, by organizing NBCDI as a national advocacy group, they created a unified movement to develop strategies to improve the life circumstances of the Black Child through policy change."

I have also learned that "for 38 years, NBCDI was led by Evelyn K. Moore who got her start as a teacher in the ground breaking Perry Pre-School/High Scope Program, which became the model for Head Start.  She has dedicated her entire professional career to improving out comes for our society's most vulnerable children.  Her leadership was followed by that if renowned  early childhood educator, writer and leader, Carol Brunson Day who led NBCDI from 2007 to 2011.  NBCDI's current resident and CEO is DR. Felicia DeHaney."

NBCDI'S future is about growth and sustain ability, forging new boundaries and promoting strengths based programs and policies that lift up our children in the context of their families, communities and cultures.  
Quote from Evelyn K.Moore,NBCDI President Emeritus, 1972 said that "Quality programes for black children must incorporate factors that ensure esteem and respect for one self and one's hertiage."

Reference:
National Black Child Development Institiute. http//nbcdi.org

Getting Ready-Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources Assignment week 1 Boozer Y.

With my contacts I have tried to reach out to them through writing an email to them and giving them my email address and  my blog address.  I am still waiting to here back from them.It could be a time difference.  At first I did not understand the assignment and it took me awhile to get the understanding of what I was suppose to do.  I found that the first email that I tried came back with a message that it was not a good email.  So I changed to some one different and both of the emails I sent went through.  Right now I am hoping that I will not have to use the alternate route.
   
      The organization that I chose to study is the  National Black Child Development Institute.  I chose this one because I am always interested in information about black children because we are treated a little different, and society try to make black children seem like they do not know much about anything. But we do know and we know a lot.   This study will also help me to understand critical and timely issues that directly impact black children and their families.