Pedagogical Possibilities for Early Childhood Education

Dear Colleagues,

Few will argue against the importance of the early childhood classroom (from birth to age 8) in the development of foundational skills (e.g; Pianta, Barnett, Burchinal, & Thornburg, 2009). Early childhood classrooms have been shown to support the development of not only children’s academic skills, but also their social/emotional and executive skills (e.g., Ansari et al., 2020; Barnett & Camilli, 2002; Barnett et.al., 2018). In fact, when a child begins their education in preschool, they are more likely to begin kindergarten with stronger academic skills than a child who did not attend a preschool program (Barnett, 1995). Given what we know about the importance of the early childhood classroom, it is critical that we examine the most effective pedagogies to support academic, social/emotional, and executive function development in young children.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

1. What pedagogies are effective for in development of early academic skills in all content areas?
2. How can we effectively develop a young child’s social/emotional and executive function skills?
3. How can we differentiate instructions to meet the needs of all young learners, including those with disabilities?
4. How do we ensure early childhood pedagogy that represents children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds?
5. How is the home learning environment influenced by pedagogy?

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Ansari, A., Pianta, R. C., Whittaker, J. V., Vitiello, V. E., & Ruzek, E. A. (2020). Persistence and convergence: The end of kindergarten outcomes of pre-K graduates and their nonattending peers. Developmental Psychology, 56(11), 2027–2039. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001115

Barnett, W. S. (1995). Long-term effects of early childhood programs on    cognitive and school outcomes. The Future of Children, 5(3), 25–50. https://doi.org/10.2307/1602366

Barnett, W. S., & Camilli, G. (2002). Compensatory preschool education, cognitive development, and "race" In J. M. Fish (Ed.), Race and intelligence: Separating science from myth (p. 369–406). NJ: LEA

Barnett, W. S., & Frede, E. (2010). The promise of preschool: Why we need early education for all. American Educator, 34(1), 21-29. https://doi.org/10.2307/1602366

Barnett, W. S., Jung, K., Friedman-Krauss, A., Frede, E. C., Nores, M., Hustedt, J. T., & Daniel-Echols, M. (2018). State prekindergarten effects on early learning at kindergarten entry: An analysis of eight state programs. AERA Open, 4(2) 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858418766291

Pianta, R. C., Barnett, W. S., Burchinal, M., & Thornburg, K. R. (2009). The effects of preschool education: What we know, how public policy is or is not aligned with the evidence base, and what we need to know. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 10 (2), 49-88. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100610381908

Dr. Michele Stites
Prof. Dr. Susan Sonnenschein
Guest Editors

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