Improving outcomes for young children and their families may start with choosing evidence-based curricula, interventions, and practices, but it doesn't end there. To ensure sustained changes to early childhood programs and systems, interventions must be implemented effectively and consistently over time, which isn't an easy or straightforward task. This important book is the first research volume on applying implementation science, an evidence-based framework for bridging the research-to-practice gap, to early childhood programs and systems. With contributions from 25+ early childhood researchers, this essential reference will help ensure that interventions are not only implemented effectively, but also scaled up and sustained so they help as many children as possible. Administrators, researchers, and policymakers will: discover the core components needed to implement and sustain change in programs and systems; explore through specific examples how to build practitioner competency and promote high-fidelity implementation of early childhood innovations; learn from a helpful five-step model for assessing the fidelity of interventions; understand how to create readiness for change and why it's so important; and see how implementation science can inform the process of systems change for early childhood professsional development systems and Quality Rating and Improvement Systems. More than a how-to-guide to effective implementation and scale-up this volume also addresses the theoretical foundation of the stages of implementation science at all levels of early childhood systems and considers research, practice, and policy implications. A foundational volume on the fundamentals of implementation science, this book will help improve long-term outcomes for all young children. Early childhood programs will learn how to replicate and sustain best practices, researchers will be ready to conduct more informed program evaluations, and policymakers will discover what it really takes to have effective, sustainable programs and systems.

This volume employs a multidisciplinary approach to research on a high-profile topic very much on the agenda of state and national policy leaders: early childhood development and education. It aims to reflect how scholarly perspectives shape the contours of knowledge generation, and to illuminate the gaps that prevent productive interchange among scholars who value equity in the opportunities available to young children, their families, and teachers/caregivers. The editors and authors identify and prioritize critical research areas; assess the state of the field in terms of promising research designs and methodologies; and identify capacity-building needs and potential cross-group collaborations.

The first and only comprehensive review of current early childhood development theory, practices, policies, and the science behind them This unique and important bookprovides a comprehensive overview of the current theory, practices, and policies in early childhood development withinthe contexts of family, school, and community, and society at large. Moreover, it synthesizes scientifically rigorous research from an array of disciplines in an effort to identify the most effective strategies for promoting early childhood development. Research into childhood development is booming, and the scientific knowledge base concerning early childhood development is now greater than that of any other stage of the human life span. At the same time, efforts to apply that knowledge to early childhood practices, programs, and policies have never been greater or more urgent. Yet, surprisingly, until The Handbook of Early Childhood Development Programs, Practices, and Policies, there was no comprehensive, critical review of the applied science in the field. The book begins with in-depth coverage of child and family approaches. From there it moves onto a consideration of school- and community-based strategies. It concludes with a discussion of current social policies on health and development in early childhood and their implications. Provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the knowledge base, along with guidance for the future of the field Examines the underlying theory and basic science guiding efforts to promote early childhood development Critically reviews the strength of the empirical support for individual practices, programs, and policies Explores key opportunities and barriers policymakers and practitioners face when implementing various approaches Pays particular attention to socioeconomically disadvantaged and other disenfranchised populations The Handbook of Early Childhood Development Programs, Practices, and Policies is a valuable resource for practitioners, scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduate students across the social sciences who are interested in strengthening their understanding of current strategies for promoting early childhood development and the science informing those strategies.

This groundbreaking edited book, The Routledge Handbook for Advancing Integration in Mixed Methods Research, presents an array of different integration ideas, with contributions from scholars across the globe. This handbook represents the first major volume that comprehensively discusses this topic of integration. Perhaps the most fundamental and longstanding question in mixed methods research is: How does one best integrate disparate forms of information to produce the best form of inquiry? Each of the 34 seminal chapters in this handbook accelerates the discussion of integration across a broad range of disciplines, including education, arts-based analyses, and work in the Global South, as well as special topics such as psychometrics and media research. Many of the chapters present new topics that have never been written about before, and all chapters offer cutting-edge approaches to integration. They also offer different perspectives of integration – leading the introductory chapter to offer a new and comprehensive definition for integration, as follows: "referring to the optimal mixing, combining, blending, amalgamating, incorporating, joining, linking, merging, consolidating, or unifying of research approaches, methodologies, philosophies, methods, techniques, concepts, language, modes, disciplines, fields, and/or teams within a single study." The concluding chapter offers a meta-framework that accounts for this definition and is designed to help scholars think more about integration in a way that represents a continuous, dynamic, iterative, interactive, synergistic, and holistic meaning-making process. This handbook will be an essential reference work for all scholars and practitioners using or seeking to use mixed methods in their research.

The essential resource to the issues surrounding childhood care and education with contributions from noted experts The Wiley Handbook of Early Childhood Care and Education is a comprehensive resource that offers a review of the historical aspects, best practices, and the future directions of the field. With contributions from noted experts in the field, the book contains 30 interdisciplinary essays that explore in-depth the central issues of early childhood care and education. The handbook presents a benchmark reference to the basic knowledge, effective approaches to use with young children, curriculum design, professional development, current policies, and other critical information. The expert contributors address the myriad complex policy and practice issues that are most relevant today. The essays provide insight into topics such as child development and diversity, the sociocultural process of child development, the importance of the home environment in the lives of young children, early childhood special education, teaching and learning literacy, and much more. This important resource: Presents a comprehensive synopsis of the major components of the field of early childhood care and education Contains contributions from leading scholars, researchers, and experts in the field Offers the foundational knowledge and practices for working with young children Puts the focus on how early childhood works and presents an understanding of culture as a foundational component of both child development and early childhood education Written for academic scholars, researchers, advocates, policymakers, and students of early childhood care and education, The Wiley Handbook of Early Childhood Care and Education is a comprehensive resource to the major issues for dealing with childhood care and education with contributions from noted scholars in the field.

A unique approach to policy implementation with essential guidance and useful tools Effective Implementation in Practice: Integrating Public Policy and Management presents an instrumental approach to implementation analysis. By spanningpolicy fields, organizations, and frontline conditions in implementation systems, this book provides a robust foundation for policy makers, public and nonprofit managers and leaders. Detailed case studies enable readers to identify key intervention points, become more strategic, and improve outcomes. The engaging style and specific examples provide a bridge to practice, while diagrams, worksheets, and other tools included in the appendix help managers apply these ideas to team meetings, operational planning, and program assessment and refinement. Policy and program implementation is fraught with challenges as public and nonprofit leaders juggle organizational missions and stakeholder expectations while managing policy and program impact and effectiveness. Using their own experience in practice, teaching, and research, the authors empower policy and program implementers to recognize their essential roles within the workplace and help them cultivate the analytical and social skills necessary to change. Understand how program or policy technology constitutes the core of implementation Study a conceptual framework encompassing power dynamics, culture, relationships in the field and the rules that are operating during program and policy implementation Discover a multilevel approach that identifies key points of strategic action at various levels and settings of the implementation system and assesses implementation success The integration of policy and management mindsets gives readers an insightful yet accessible understanding of implementation, allowing them to achieve the potent results desired by the public. For those in senior positions at federal agencies to local staff at nonprofit organizations, Effective Implementation in Practice: Integrating Public Policy and Management provides an invaluable one-stop resource.

Examine the latest research merging nature and nurture in pathological development Developmental Psychopathology is a four-volume compendium of the most complete and current research on every aspect of the field. Volume Four: Genes and Environment focuses on the interplay between nature and nurture throughout the life stages, and the ways in which a child's environment can influence his or her physical and mental health as an adult. The discussion explores relationships with family, friends, and the community; environmental factors like poverty, violence, and social support; the development of coping mechanisms, and more, including the impact of these factors on physical brain development. This new third edition has been fully updated to incorporate the latest advances, and to better reflect the increasingly multilevel and interdisciplinary nature of the field and the growing importance of translational research. The relevance of classification in a developmental context is also addressed, including DSM-5 criteria and definitions. Advances in developmental psychopathology are occurring increasingly quickly as expanding theoretical and empirical work brings about dramatic gains in the multiple domains of child and adult development. This book brings you up to date on the latest developments surrounding genetics and environmental influence, including their intersection in experience-dependent brain development. Understand the impact of childhood adversity on adulthood health Gauge the effects of violence, poverty, interparental conflict, and more Learn how peer, family, and community relationships drive development Examine developments in prevention science and future research priorities Developmental psychopathology is necessarily interdisciplinary, as development arises from a dynamic interplay between psychological, genetic, social, cognitive, emotional, and cultural factors. Developmental Psychopathology Volume Four: Genes and Environment brings this diverse research together to give you a cohesive picture of the state of knowledge in the field.