| Preface | |
| About the Authors | |
| Early Childhood Education: An Expanding Enterprise! | |
| Increasing Family Demand | |
| Early Learning Imperatives | |
| Children at Risk of School Failure | |
| Reducing the Achievement Gap: Starting Early | |
| Early Childhood Education: A Sound Investment | |
| Principals' Roles: Laying the Groundwork | |
| Quality Makes ALL the Difference | |
| The Corrosive Impact of Poor Quality | |
| High-Quality Defined | |
| Leadership and High Quality | |
| Becoming an Early Childhood Leader | |
| Principals' Roles: Achieving High Quality | |
| Breaking New Ground: Getting Involved in Early Childhood Education | |
| What Exactly Is Early Childhood Education? | |
| Becoming Familiar With Early Childhood Culture | |
| School Principals as Culture Brokers | |
| Principals' Roles: Getting Involved in Early Childhood Education | |
| Early Childhood Education: Stakeholders | |
| Identifying the Stakeholder | |
| Collaboration | |
| Give Voice to Stakeholders | |
| Actions and Considerations | |
| Principals' Roles: Working With Stakeholders | |
| Developmentally Appropriate Practice | |
| Fundamental Principles of DAP | |
| Developmentally Inappropriate Practice (DIP) | |
| Applying DAP Requires Judgment | |
| The Sounds of DAP! | |
| Empirical Support for DAP | |
| Common Questions About DAP | |
| Principals' Roles: Supporting DAP | |
| The Principal's Guide to How Young Children Develop and Learn | |
| The Essential Nature of Young Children | |
| How Young Children Develop | |
| How Young Children Learn | |
| What Children Are Learning | |
| Principals' Roles: Supporting Child Development and Learning | |
| Early Childhood Curriculum | |
| What Constitutes the Early Childhood Curriculum? | |
| 'Goodness of Fit' Between Early Education and Later Schooling | |
| Implementing the Early Childhood Curriculum | |
| Activities to Look for in Early Childhood Classrooms | |
| Principal's Roles: Curriculum | |
| Learning Centers & Classroom Routines | |
| Typical Learning Centers for Young Children | |
| Skills Teachers Need to Run Effective Centers | |
| How Classroom Routines Support Curricular Goals | |
| A Typical Day for Children | |
| Principals' Roles: Centers and Routines | |
| Early Childhood Assessment | |
| Key Considerations | |
| Authentic Assessment | |
| Strategies to Guide Learning and Improve Instruction | |
| Strategies for Identifying Children's Special Needs | |
| Assessing Early Childhood Programs and Learning Contexts | |
| Pros and Cons of Standardized Assessment | |
| The Principals' Roles: Promoting Authentic Assessment | |
| Early Childhood Education: Family Involvement | |
| Through the Eyes of the Families | |
| Looking Inside and Looking Outside | |
| Suggestions for Families | |
| Through the Eyes of Teachers | |
| Parents Want Communication With the School | |
| Family Roles | |
| Principals' Roles: Family Involvement | |
| Early Childhood Teachers | |
| Teachers Matter | |
| The Critical Function of Principals | |
| Characteristics of 'Good' Teachers | |
| Formal Teacher Qualifications | |
| Translating Teacher Standards Into Practice | |
| Principals' Roles: Supporting Early Childhood Teachers | |
| Finding and Keeping Good Teachers | |
| Shortage of Qualified Early Childhood Teachers | |
| Looking for Teachers to Support Diverse Children and Families | |
| Reducing Staff Turnover | |
| Principals' Roles: Hiring and Retaining Good Teachers | |
| Physical Environments That Support Early Learning | |
| Environmental Propositions | |
| How Physical Environments Influence Child Development and Learning | |
| Fundamentals of Environmental Planning | |
| Physical Requirements of Activity-Based Instruction | |
| Equipping Early Childhood Classrooms | |
| The Great Outdoors! | |
| Principals' Roles: Creating Optimal Early Learning Environments | |
| Early Childhood Education: Funding | |
| Funding Sources | |
| History of Federal Funding | |
| State Funding | |
| Local Funding | |
| Start-Up Costs | |
| Administrator Voices | |
| Principals' Roles: Funding | |
| Action Summary | |
| Learning Center Checklist | |
| Key Instruments Used Nationally for Evaluation of Children in ECE Programs | |
| Daily Literacy Checklist P3 | |
| Daily Numeracy Checklist P3 | |
| Guidelines for Structuring Informative On-Site Observations | |
| Sample Interview Questions for Teacher Candidates | |
| Early Childhood Safety & Health Checklist | |
| Physical Requirements of Small Group Activity Centers | |
| ECE Classroom Equipment List | |
| Indoor Environment Checklist | |
| References | |
| Index | |
| Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved. |