International Contact: Final Blog

This course have me the opportunity to learn and explore about the children in China.  Eventhough I was not able to contact a person to speak,  I used the website "Save the Children" to learn and research about the children in China.

Things I learned.....

Despite China's strong and sustained economic growth, poverty is still persistent, especially in remote rural areas. Income inequalities between eastern and western China have broadened, and the income gap between rural and urban residents has widened considerably since the late 1970s. Urban incomes are now more than three times higher than rural incomes. China’s government is taking strong measures to correct this trend by increasing investment in rural areas, especially in infrastructure, irrigation, education and health. The government is putting in place favourable policies in support of the rural population. They include agricultural tax exemptions that became effective in 2007, provision of subsidies for agricultural production and increased agricultural procurement prices, and expansion of social protection and security coverage. The government’s investments aim to create a balanced, prosperous society through economic and social development.

Early Childhood Program Evaluation Instruments

Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale

• The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) is an evaluation tool that assesses programs for young children ages two and half through five years. The ECERS can be used in school- or center-based programs, and includes a total of 43 evaluation items that are grouped into seven different subscales. The subscales include Space and Furnishings (e.g., indoor play space, the classroom, gross motor space), Personal Care Routines (e.g., greetings, departure routines, health and safety, rest periods), Language-Reasoning (books, communication, informal language used in the classroom), Activities (fine motor, arts, blocks, and other content area centers), Interaction (supervision of students, discipline, and interpersonal interactions), Program Structure (schedule, group time, play periods, adaptations for students with disabilities), and Parents and Staff (provisions for parents/staff, staff interactions, professional development). Periodically the ECERS is revised based on research data and professional use/program feedback.

HighScope Assessment

• The HighScope Educational Research Foundation is a nationally-known early childhood organization. This non-profit groups creates curriculum for preschools, conducts educational research, trains professionals, and provides assessment/evaluation tools to programs. All tools are based on current, accepted early childhood research. The Preschool Quality Assessment (Preschool PQA) is designed to evaluate an early childhood program's strengths and weaknesses. Specific areas covered by the Preschool PQA include staff/teacher interactions with students, the overall educational environment, routines/schedules, curriculum, parents and family communications and services offered, staffing issues (e.g., professional development and minimum educational/experiential requirements), and the management of the site/center.

Classroom Assessment Scoring System

• The Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) was designed by top child development and educational researchers to evaluate early childhood programs. This tool focuses on the teacher-student day to day interactions and includes assessments of social and emotional classroom behaviors such as the sensitivity of teachers to students, overall class organization (e.g., behavior management strategies), and instruction. CLASS can be used by school administrators, site directors/managers, or other education professionals. Individuals with no experience using this assessment tool may opt for a two-day training session. CLASS materials include two manuals based on student ages and scoring forms.

Sharing Web Resources

I have learned some interesting things as it relates to poverty and  Early Childhood Studies.  I will share some interesting information I found about poverty in China.

The prevailing view of poverty in China, according to the World Bank, holds that it is exclusively a rural phenomenon, especially prevalent in western China, remote areas and minority regions; it is highly concentrated in clusters of poor villages; and it is more prevalent among girls, women and the elderly, mainly affecting people who are unable to work.

The report finds that, while there are elements of truth in some of these perceptions, poverty is far more differentiated in China. Among its findings:

• Geography and ethnicity are relevant, but they’re not the sole determinants of poverty. Levels of poverty are higher and more severe in China’s western regions, but nearly half of the poor are in other parts of the country. People living in remote, mountainous areas are two to three times more likely to be poor than those who live in more central areas, and the incidence of poverty among ethnic minorities is two to three times higher than among the Han Chinese. Still, about half of the poor in China are neither living in remote areas nor members of an ethnic minority.

• The poor are dispersed throughout China’s villages, not concentrated in poor villages. As overall poverty declines in China, it tends to become more dispersed. This has important policy implications, since it makes it harder for the government to target whole areas for poverty reduction. Instead, new approaches that target poverty at the household-level will become more relevant.

• Most of China’s poor are able to work. Nearly three-quarters of China’s rural poor live in households where every member has the ability to do work, and 97% live in households with at least two members who are able to work. (“Able to work” means any person over 16, including the elderly, who is physically capable of working). Only 7% of the rural poor lacked the capacity to work. Poverty is more closely correlated with low levels of education, the report says.

• Children, especially girls, are more likely to be poor than the elderly. Overall, poverty rates for male and female adults and the elderly population is very close – between 12% and 13%. But poverty rates are higher among children under 16 years old: 16% of boys and 17% of girls are poor. Girls are also more at risk than boys of becoming poor.

Reference:

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2009/04/13/facts-about-poverty-in-china-challenge-conventional-wisdom/

Sharing Web Resources

Georgia Head Start Association

Georgia Head Start and Early Head Start programs provide comprehensive early childhood and family development services to children from birth to five-years-old, pregnant women and families. Our programs have a long tradition of delivering comprehensive and high quality services designed to foster healthy development in low-income children and their families. Head Start agencies provide a range of individualized services in the areas of education and early childhood development; medical, dental, and mental health; nutrition; parent involvement and family support. In addition, the entire range of Head Start services is responsive and appropriate to each child's and family's developmental, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage and experience.
All Head Start and Early Head Start programs must adhere to federal Program Performance Standards. These standards, which are the most rigorous and comprehensive early childhood program standards in the country, define the services that programs are to provide to the children and families they serve and are designed to ensure that the Head Start goals and objectives are implemented successfully and that all agencies maintain the highest possible quality in the provision of Head Start services

Link to website:  http://www.georgiaheadstart.org/

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

I have not been able to make contact with any Early Childhood Professional outside the United States.  My goal was to contact a professional from Africa.  I really thought this would be an easy assignment, however it is very challenging.  I am going to make a visit to Fort Valley State University and speak with the International Student department to see if I can get some assistance.