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The "Report on the Condition of Education" is a congressionally mandated annual report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Using the most recent data available (at the time this report was written) from NCES and other sources, the report contains key indicators on the condition of education in the United States at all levels, from prekindergarten through postsecondary, as well as labor force outcomes and international comparisons. There are core indicators that are updated every year and spotlight indicators that provide in-depth analyses on topics of interest to education agencies, policymakers, researchers, and the public. At the broadest level, the Condition of Education Indicator System is organized into five sections: family characteristics;preprimary, elementary, and secondary education;postsecondary education;population characteristics and economic outcomes;and international comparisons. The Report on the "Condition of Education 2023" encompasses key findings from the Condition of Education Indicator System. The full contents of the Indicator System can be accessed online through the website or by downloading PDFs for the individual indicators. [For "The Condition of Education 2023": At a Glance, see ED628291. For the "Report on the Condition of Education 2022. NCES 2022-144," see ED619870.]
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This study aimed to examine the views of parents of young children on their children's use of technology during COVID-19. The participants of this research, in which a case study was used, consisted of 10 mothers and 10 fathers living in a province in the inner Aegean region of Turkey. The interview form prepared by the researcher was used as a data collection tool. The data obtained from this research were analysed using content analysis. The research data were gathered under the following four themes: family guidance, technology use in the family, effects on the development of the child, and technology education. The findings showed that parents had positive opinions about the use of technological tools and technology education during COVID-19. In addition, it was concluded that parents needed support on how to guide their children in this process. It was determined that while some parents tried to be positive models for their children, they showed different approaches with their spouses. To them, technolog) affected their children's behavior and attention/interest levels negatively.
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With the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been attempted to conduct distance education at all grades worldwide. This study aims to examine the distance education processes of preschool teachers in Turkey. An instrumental case study was used in the research with ten female private kindergarten teachers selected using the criterion-based sampling method. Interviews were conducted with a semi-structured form on the Zoom platform. It was concluded that teachers experienced infrastructure and technical problems, increased workload in distance education, and economic difficulties. During online education, teachers felt that they were monitored by parents and had privacy concerns. Teachers had problems with classroom management, experienced anxiety with increased screen time, and could not adapt measurement and evaluation practices. The requirements for distance preschool education were divided into four categories: knowledge, interaction, physical space, and material. The recommendations for limitations and future research are indicated in the study.
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SPECIAL REPORT Since the inception of the United States, social, economic, political, and scientific institutions have been built on a foundation emphasizing the inferiority of individuals related to phenotypic differences.1 This hierarchy ensconced white individuals as superior to all other groups with Native Americans and Blacks on the bottom. Some fifty years after the discovery of the genetic code, at a White House ceremony in 2000 to announce the discovery, Craig Venter, a pioneer of DNA sequencing, observed, "The concept of race has no genetic or scientific basis. With structural or institutional racism, there is decreased access to health care and resources for education, leading to lower health literacy and fewer health care providers of color.12'13 Over time, this has led to a distrust of the health care system as a whole by POC due to widely publicized historical events such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Marion tuberculosis outbreak. [...]non-Hispanic Blacks have a higher prevalence of recurrent asthma exacerbations and hospitalizations than Whites after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors.16 One study revealed that with non-Black children, poor children were 45% more likely than children who were not poor to have asthma.
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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic led educational systems worldwide to transpose activities planned for face-to-face education to mediated contexts - through what is known as Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL). This posed unprecedented challenges to schools, teachers, families, and students. In this context, it was relevant to describe and understand how parents perceived this process, including what challenges to themselves and their children they faced and what advantages they acknowledged in the process. The present study focuses on Portuguese parents' views on this process. Methods: Data were gathered in April and May 2020 through an online questionnaire answered by 184 parents of preschool, basic, and secondary education students (ages 3–18). The present paper presents data from open questions analyzed by deductive and inductive content analysis using MaxQDA. Results and discussion: Results evidence three overarching themes: equity, parental labor, and the meaning of school. Parents reveal substantial difficulties juggling the role of proxy educator and parent and point to inequalities - including those concerning very young children, children with disabilities or learning difficulties, students enrolled in professional education, families with insufficient access to technologies, and parents working from home. The school is portrayed as a crucial environment for development, a designated space for learning and caretaking, but also a relational and emotional context. Despite this scenario, parents acknowledge ERTL as having positive aspects and as the possible outlet to keep education going even in extreme situations. Copyright © 2023 Seabra, Abelha, Aires and Teixeira.
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This paper presents an effort for introducing children rights to preschool students transcending conventional methods. An educational intervention was designed and developed for the introduction of preschoolers to issues of survival, development, non-discrimination and protection rights through digital games. The latter were used in online sessions, due to Covid-19 constraints. Educational effectiveness was studied through qualitative analysis of interviews with children before and after the intervention, through questionnaires regarding their degree of fun, and through the projects and the comments they produced during online sessions. Results showed that, following the intervention, individual rights occupied a more central place in the children's self-awareness. All children approached the issues of rights in relation to the improvement of the quality of life and demonstrated an ethical reasoning regarding the reciprocity of social rules. Digital games mobilized children's creative thinking, dialogue and social reflection through role-playing in distant instructional scenarios. They became useful tools as an asynchronous activity for the creative expression of social messages as well as for the interaction between children and parents. This study highlights the potential of promoting a critical approach to rights-based social issues through digital games at preschool education, as well as the need for developing serious games explicitly focused on children rights education. At the same time, further research is necessary to explore and cross-reference the views of students and parents on children rights for, and through, the use of digital games.
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The COVID‐19 pandemic has brought profound changes in people's live and work. It has also accelerated the development of education from traditional model to online model, which is particularly important in preschool education. Preschoolers communicate with teachers through online video, so how to provide high quality and low latency online teaching has become a new challenge. In cloud computing, users offload computing tasks to the cloud to meet the high computing demands of their devices, but cloud‐based solutions have led to huge bandwidth usage and unpredictable latency. In order to solve this problem, mobile edge computing (MEC) deploys the server at the edge of the network to provide the service with close range and low latency. In task scheduling, edge computing (EC) devices have rational thinking, and they are unwilling to collaborate with MEC server to perform tasks due to their selfishness. Therefore, it is necessary to design an effective incentive mechanism to encourage the collaboration of EC devices. Through analysis of MEC server and EC devices, we propose a distributed task scheduling algorithm—Stackelberg game approach based on alternating direction method of multipliers, which selects the appropriate incentive mechanism to encourage the collaboration of EC devices. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can rapidly converge to a certain accuracy within 40 iterations, and in incentive mechanism comparison and quality of experience, the proposed approach also has a good performance in anti‐jitter and low latency. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Expert Systems is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a global catastrophe that has had a detrimental impact on people's daily lives. Children have suffered as a result of being confined to their homes constantly. Preschoolers in particular are quite active and like attending school and participating in a variety of extracurricular activities. But, because of the corona pandemic lockdown, they are limited to engaging in play and other activities with their parents and siblings. This qualitative study was conducted to find the changes that parents of preschool children felt in their children's behavior and how they were handling them during this trying time of being confined at home. The objectives of the study were to explore that the preschool children being at home during the time of the pandemic how got changed in their behavior as well as the changes in their routine life, along with this it was also tried to document the ways in which parents are managing them during this pandemic. Interviews were conducted through audio and video calls. The responses were then analysed thematically. The main conclusions emphasised the significance of early childhood education for the development of children's manners. Young children's behaviour is greatly influenced by preschools in their daily lives. The kids' increasing usage of digital media is a result of their extended home absence from school, and their increased hostility is a result of their lack of peers and low social development setting.
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The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on demands, resources, and job satisfaction among a convenience sample of early childhood education (ECE) staff employed in Head Start preschools in a large metro area of Colorado. A survey was administered to a sample of Head Start staff at two timepoints: Time 1 (pre-COVID-19 pandemic) in October of 2019 (n = 137) and Time 2 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) in November of 2020 (n = 86). The survey consisted of a combination of validated measures to assess personal and external demands and resources and work satisfaction. Workload is a perceived external "demand" that significantly improved from pre- to mid-pandemic in this sample (z = -3.3, p < 0.01). Many personal and external "resources" changed pre- to mid-pandemic, though none were statistically significant. Overall job satisfaction in this sample increased, though it was not statistically significant (z = -1.04, p = 0.3). Mitigating demands, such as minimizing workload, and increasing job-related resources, such as bolstering management supports, may lead to improved job satisfaction of the ECE workforce employed in Head Start settings. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified poor mental health and numerous job demands, some of the pandemic-related regulations may have also decreased the workload for some subgroups of the ECE workforce, potentially translating to improved job satisfaction. However, significant disparities remain with respect to personal and external demands among this sample of the ECE workforce compared to the national workforce suggesting multi-level resources and supports are critical to further buffer these stressors.
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Childcare instability can negatively affect family well-being. Yet not all childcare changes are bad for families. This qualitative study (N = 85) examines work, family, provider, and subsidy-related factors contributing to childcare changes among families with low incomes. We focus on the desirability—the extent to which parents wanted to leave their provider—and the planned nature of childcare changes—the extent to which parents anticipated the change and had time to plan. We find that although nearly all desired changes were planned, undesired changes were both planned and unplanned. Planning was important but not enough for finding care that aligned with family needs, and undesired changes, especially sudden changes, were often driven by the loss of a childcare subsidy, sometimes accompanied by a job loss. We discuss how these findings can help researchers and policymakers understand the implications of complex childcare trajectories for family well-being and early care and education policy.
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The current study examined how families navigated the rules and admissions requirements of Washington, DC's common enrollment lottery for public preschool.Informed by ethnography and case study methods, multiple in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with two Black mothers and one White mother over the course of a year to understand their processes for navigating the school lottery. Despite the lottery telling parents to rank schools in the order of their preference, informal rules were identified via lottery preferences and prior waitlist information. Race shapedparticipants' school search processes as well, with both Black mothers indicating concerns regarding how some schools would treat their children. While all three participants reviewed DC data on waitlists, school quality, and academic curriculum, they still relied heavily on information from other parents to get specific experiences about schools. Despite an abundance of research supporting the importance of early childhood education on later outcomes, the mothers in this study downplayed the importance of preschool, perhaps in response to the level of effort expended on the lottery process.Their focus for the most part was on the later elementary years and beyond. Quantitative data on school demographics, waitlists, and school ratings are also analyzed to show how school- and ward-level structural constraints informed mothers' processes. The study occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a unique opportunity to show how families adjusted to school decisions during this historic event. By the last interview-about one year after the study began-all three mothers were participating in the lottery again. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
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The significance of adapting to a rapidly changing world is quite evident in the current day; thus, the awareness of how to teach students so that they can be ready to face challenges in the future is very important. Early education has a huge impact on the further development of children, so preschool teachers must be competent and use appropriate teaching and educational methods. In this study, the development of self-directed learning (SDL) of future preschool teachers is investigated by considering two variables, namely the type of study (full-time and part-time students) and the learning modalities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (pre-, during and post-COVID-19 confinement). We collected data from 418 participants and analysed them using descriptive statistics, 2 × 3 factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a two-step cluster analysis. The results show the status of pre-service preschool teachers' perceptions of their SDL development and how the variables influenced it. There were significant differences in the students' self-reported SDL skills, depending on the learning environment and the type of study. The status indicator helps educators identify and change the curriculum and how they work with students. It allows the faculty to highlight the positive aspects of the different educational modalities encountered, as well as the characteristics of the study types and their impact on the learning process to improve students' SDL skills. The results of the study may help in the design of tailored metacognitive scaffolds that take into account different modalities. Further studies are needed to investigate the effectiveness of digital open learning environments that address both SDL and preschool educational practices.
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Under the influence of COVID-19, people's normal life and activities have been limited, such as the education of children, which leads to the emergence of online preschool education. Since online preschool education is large-scale and time-sensitive, the traditional network model cannot satisfy the needs of online education. In this paper, edge computing is adopted to optimize online preschool education, where a task unloading algorithm based on genetic algorithm (TUOGA) is designed to minimize the computing delay of terminal tasks. In order to verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithm, TUOGA is compared with two task offloading algorithms, and simulation results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms them in the aspect of time latency. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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While the COVID-19 vaccines bring hope about the end of pandemic-related closures, leaders worldwide recognize that a fundamental shift has occurred in the way we work, live, and learn. Though we will always need brick-and-mortar schools, our "new normal" must include hybrid and virtual education options for students who do not have access to safe and healthy classrooms. The consequences of not making this shift will place an at-risk generation further behind their peers. At Pathways Early Education Center of Immokalee, in Florida, educators are constantly looking for new ways to engage the children and the families in the migrant farm-working community. As educators discussed strategies to safely bring the children back into the classroom, they considered the option of enhanced virtual classes for their pre-kindergarten students. They were seeking a way to keep students who needed to quarantine for two weeks from falling behind their peers. This article discusses the results of a pilot virtual pre-kindergarten program, which showed that virtual pre-kindergarten students had more positive gains in fine motor skills. Both in-person and virtual pre-kindergarten students will be more prepared with essential skills to succeed in kindergarten than children who have not had access to early education.
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Transforming two early education centres in China to incorporate the educational philosophy of Maria Montessori is a huge task. To induct teaching staff into Montessori's philosophy, pedagogy, and curriculum when their past educational experiences have been formed by a rigid, traditional model added to the challenge. To further complicate matters the transformation took place during lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the staff participated in a completely voluntary capacity whilst in isolation. For this research project the authors collected data through direct observations, surveys, questionnaires, individual teacher interviews, and focus group interviews. How online professional learning for 35 staff members was planned, organised, modified, and undertaken is outlined. Practical and technical issues involved in moving from face-to-face to online teaching are also included. Teachers reported that the professional learning program had prepared them well for when the centres reopened and the children returned.
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The aim of the research was to reveal the school management process during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research was designed on the basis of case study in qualitative research paradigm. Maximum variation sampling was used in the study. As such, 15 school principals with various years of experience, serving at various school levels were included in the study. Data was obtained from a semi-structured interview form with 11 items. Inductive analysis was utilized in data analysis. The primary finding of the study was the precautions taken by school principals during the pandemic. These are physical precautions, informative precautions, and productive precautions. Another finding was that school principals made their best effort to fulfill their duties and responsibilities in-school, out of school, and regarding their leadership roles. Lastly, school principals problems mainly revolved around two groups: the resources of the school and students, and the decisions made, regarding educational and instructional processes.
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The goal of this study was to learn about parental perceptions of their preschool and elementary school children with respect to relations with the teachers and various aspects of distance learning used during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Israel. Research was carried out in the summer of 2020 among 602 parents, comprising a representative sample of parents of children in preschool, grades 1-2, and grades 3-6 of the Jewish population of Israel. Participants completed a questionnaire designed for this study that sought to measure attitudes towards aspects of distance learning (e.g., Zoom lessons) and how the teachers related to the children and parents. Findings indicate that the child's age had an impact on how the parent perceives the activities of the children and the teachers with respect to several forms of distance learning imposed by the pandemic. At all ages, parental interpretation of the impact of the pandemic on teacher-family relations was found to contribute to the explained variance regarding parental evaluation of the children's and teachers' activities as well as the variance in attitudes about distance learning (both online and asynchronous). Also, parents of every age cohort reported that they were more involved in their children's distance learning than in encouraging the children to reach out to their friends -- the parents of third through sixth graders were even less involved than parents of the younger children.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated challenges in the early care and education (ECE) sector, including: preexisting structural flaws, insufficient funding mechanisms, sector fragmentation, inadequate support for the workforce, and inequalities, such as the lack of access to high-quality care among low-income, rural populations, and communities of color. Addressing the impacts of the pandemic and the resulting economic recession on the ECE sector will require that state, local, and tribal decision makers use available COVID-19 relief funds to mitigate those impacts while also laying the foundation for longer-term solutions. This rapid expert consultation identifies mitigation strategies that could be implemented to achieve these goals. These strategies include: (1) Reduce the rate of closures, (2) Assist the ECE workforce, (3) Modify subsidy reimbursement and payment policies, (4) Improve coordination of the ECE sector and funding systems, and (5) Integrate data systems across provider and funding types.
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From birth to preschool years, before the young children become conventional readers and writers, children are involved in a developmental process known as "emergent literacy," a concept that was coined by Marie Clay (a New Zealand scholar) in 1966. During this stage, children engage naturally in unconventional literacy behaviors such as pre-reading (e.g., pretend reading by retelling the story from looking at the illustrations) and pre-writing (e.g., drawing, scribbling, letter-like writing). These emergent literacy behaviors are considered foundational to children becoming competent readers and writers, as needed to succeed in formal schooling and beyond. Thus, the emergent literacy phenomenon has important implications for education practice. This developmental process is best mediated and optimized through positive social interactions with adults (e.g., shared book reading) and exposure to a literacy-rich environment with developmentally appropriate materials (e.g., storybooks). This article examines a preschool teacher facilitated emergent literacy development with her students during COVID-19 pandemic when schools were closed.
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Community college early childhood education programs prepare students for a career path that enjoys plenty of demand, although that's at least in part due to low wages that make hiring and retaining good workers a challenge. That challenge has become more acute during the COVID-19 pandemic, given the literally hands-on nature of the work. Demand for early childhood education programs likely would spike if President Biden's Build Back Better plan passes Congress, given that it includes money for universal preschool. Administrators and faculty of community college early childhood education programs say they're paying close attention to what's happening in Washington as well as their own states as they try to recruit students, upgrade training to deal with challenges like COVID-19 and meet the demand in their respective areas.