Future Vision Of Early Childhood Education Alyssa Maldonado

Head Start Historical Facts Head Start Project began in 1965 as an eight-week preschool summer program for children from low-income families (Sass, 2013) This Project was Part of the “War On Poverty” (Sass,2013) Many changes since 1964: 1977- began bilingual and bicultural programs in 21 states 1984- budget exceeded one billion dollars 2007- Reauthorized with several provisions to better the program 2009- added more than 64,000 slots for programs (Office of Head Start, 2013) Mission: Promotes school readiness of children ages birth to 5 from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social and emotional development (Office of Head Start, 2013)

Head Start: Current Populations Served In 2012 Head Start Served 1,146,468 children and pregnant woman (National Head Start Association, 2013) Based on the 2009-2010 Head Start Program Information Report, 36 % of children enrolled in a Head Start Program were of Hispanic or Latino Origin (Fuentes, 2011) 29 % of children were Black or African American (Fuentes, 2011) 10.6 % of children were “other” (Fuentes, 2011)

Futuring Tecnhiques Futuring: the act, art, or science of identifying and evaluating possible future events (World Future Society, 2011) Scanning: the initial and continuing process of reviewing and analyzing current literature, websites, and other media to identify and describe noteworthy trends and their possible development and future impacts (World Future Society, 2011) Data Team Meetings- teachers meet to discuss scores and how they can bring children to the next level in their learning (once a month) Vertical Team Meetings- one grade level above and one grade level below meet to discuss and plan for children accordingly (once a month) Professional Development-offered to teachers twice a month after school to help plan for effective learning environments and also learn more about technology. (twice a month) Collaborative Meetings- teachers meet to discuss/plan for different content areas (literacy, math, science, reading, etc) to implement effective lessons and activities into daily/future schedules (daily)

Futuring of Early Childhood Education Technology

The consumption of multiple technologies by young people (Becta,2008): -Different types of technologies are adaptable to all the different types of learning styles. -Helps to improve personalized learning experiences. -Children are able to guide their own learning experiences. The challenges to teachers pedagogical role and professional development (Becta,2008): -Creates a confident system leadership and innovation (Becta,2008.) - Teachers will be technology confident effective providers and should be able to enable infrastructure and processes (Becta,2008.) -With the use of technology teachers will be able to significantly alter factors such as classroom management, the pace of learning, teacher control, and the learner-teacher relationship (Becta, 2008).  Technology Trends

Economic Trends Reduction of state funds for prekindergarten programs (NAEYC,2012): -New state budgets are providing less per pupil funding for kindergarten through 12th grade than they did six years ago (Leachman & Mai, 2013). -The cuts will hinder the school districts ability to deliver high quality education and will have long-term negative consequences for the nation’s competitiveness (Leachman & Mai, 2013).  Continuous building of early childhood systems through their Advisory Councils in Early Childhood Education and Care (NAEYC,2012) - The councils develop a high quality, comprehensive system of early childhood development and care (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). -The Councils ensure that statewide coordination and collaboration among the wide range of early childhood programs and services in the state, including child care, Head Start, IDEA preschool, and infants and families programs, and prekindergarten programs and services (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2013).

Demographic Trends Increase in population: -The demands of the children initiate the idea of having more early childhood programs to service these children -In CT there are 197,096 children under 5 years old (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012) -Only 7,460 children enrolled in Head Start Programs (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012) -Only 930 infants and toddlers were enrolled in Early Head Start Programs (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012) Race and ethnicity is becoming more diverse - More than 20% of children are Hispanic (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012) -Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group (Children’s Defense Fund, 2012) -Hispanic families struggle to find childcare that is linguistically and culturally compatible (Collins, R & Ribeiro, R., 2004)  -Teachers need to have proper trainings and professional development on how to educate ELL students

Preparing for the Future of Early Childhood Education Start teaching certification process Begin processes for NAEYC accreditation Up to date on the latest technologies Ongoing professional development Practice futuring and scanning techniques.

PLE: Futuristic Playground www.futuristicplayground.wordpress.com As an early childhood educator one of my main focuses is figuring out how to get children engaged in learning. This is one of the ways that I will help other educators be more educated on technology.  The futuristic playground is here to help other early childhood educators be aware of what the future has to offer young children.  There will be random blogs and tutorials  of how to use different pieces of technology with young children.

References Becta. (2008). Analysis of Emerging Trends Affecting the use of Technology in Education. Retrieved from: http://post.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/courses/EDU505.901 134036755/Documents/Analysis%20of%20Emerging%20Trends%20Research%20Report.pdf   Children’s Defense Fund. (2012). The State of America’s Children Handbook. Retrieved from: http://www.childrensdefense.org/child-research-data-piblications/data/soac-2012-handbook.pdf Collins, R & Ribeiro, R. (2004).  Toward an Early Care and Education Agenda fro Hispanic Children. Retrieved from: http://ecrp.uluc.edu/v6n2/collins.html Fuentes. Y.S. (2011,Septmeber). Head Start Today: A look at Demographics and Culture and Linguistic Responsiveness. Retrieved from : http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/opre/sanchez_fuentes.pdf Leachman,M & Mai, C. (2013). Most States Funding Schools Less  Than Before the Recession. Retrieved from: http://www.cbpp.org/files/9-12-13sfp.pdf NAEYC.(2012). Research Policy Practice. Retrieved from: http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/12_State_Early_Care_ISSUU.pdf

Reference cont. National Head Start Association. (2013). National Summary. Retrieved from: http://www.nhsa.org/advocacy/advocacy/sequestration_fact_sheets Office of Head Start.(2013). History of Head Start. Retrieved from: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ohs/about/history-of-head-start Sass, E. (2013,August). American educational history: A hypertext timeline. Retrieved from http://www.eds-resources.com/educationhistorytimeline.html Shrestha, L & Heisler, E. (2011). The Changing Demogrpahic Profile of the United States. Retrieved from: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1830&context=key_workplace   U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2013). State Advisory Councils. Retrieved from: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ecd/programs/state-advisory-councils World Future Society. (2013).Dictionary. Retrieved from: http://www.wfs.org/dictionary