Getting Ready to Learn describes how educational media have and are continuing to play a role in meeting the learning needs of children, parents, and teachers. Based on years of meaningful data from the CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative, chapters explore how to develop engaging, playful, and developmentally appropriate content. From Emmy-Award-winning series to randomized controlled trials, this book covers the media production, scholarly research and technological advances surrounding some of the country¿s most beloved programming.

"This timely book explores innovative ways teachers can use play-based activities to build a strong literacy foundation for young learners. It is committed to creating classrooms that feature collaborative learning spaces where children work with their peers, assume roles and viewpoints, and communicate naturally with each other. This comprehensive approach to learning looks at functional and constructive play as well as more structured dramatic play and games with rules. Observations of children's play moments and activities directed by children themselves are shared, along with practical suggestions for how adults can guide students in planned and informal activities to enrich their early literacy skills."--Publisher.

Do you tell your preschooler one thing and they do the opposite? Are they easily distracted or unable to focus? If you suspect that your child may have a learning problem--or if you simply want to help them be ready--here is the book to read before he or she enters the school system: a realistic, humorous, and kind-hearted guide to helping your little one learn. In Ready to Learn, Stan Goldberg draws on thirty years of clinical experience (and personal experience as the father of two kids with learning differences) to provide an easy-to-use guide to helping children overcome any problems and improve their learning skills. Illustrating his discussion with many anecdotes about teaching both his own children and children in his private practice, Goldberg walks readers through the process of learning and shows how to identify a learning problem. He focuses on four major areas--problems of attention, understanding, storage, and retrieval--presenting each problem through the eyes of the child, in everyday terms that a parent can understand. He looks at seven down-to-earth strategies that will allow you to create the best plan to help your child overcome their problem and he provides many handy charts and figures that will help you organize your efforts. The book also includes a list of useful web sites and a chart of development milestones, outlining motor skills, cognitive-sensory skills, and language and social skills. Written in a style that blends humor, insightful stories, and practical experience, Ready to Learn provides a flexible, time-tested approach, using step-by-step strategies that will help your preschoolers become confident and love learning--before they enter the classroom.

Countries that have sustained rapid growth over decades have typically had a strong public commitment to expanding education as well as to improving learning outcomes. South Asian countries have made considerable progress in expanding access to primary and secondary schooling, with countries having achieved near-universal enrollment of the primary-school-age cohort (ages 6†“11), except for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Secondary enrollment shows an upward trend as well. Beyond school, many more people have access to skilling opportunities and higher education today. Although governments have consistently pursued policies to expand access, a prominent feature of the region has been the role played by nonstate actors—private nonprofit and forprofit entities—in expanding access at every level of education. Though learning levels remain low, countries in the region have shown a strong commitment to improving learning. All countries in South Asia have taken the first step, which is to assess learning outcomes regularly. Since 2010, there has been a rapid increase in the number of large-scale student learning assessments conducted in the region. But to use the findings of these assessments to improve schooling, countries must build their capacity to design assessments and analyze and use findings to inform policy.

Senate hearing on the Elementary & Secondary Education Act. The hearing focuses on how children learn at an early age, & provides different perspectives on early educ. It delves into the importance of early childhood longitudinal studies which will focus on education, health & development of children & how to understand the results of such studies. It also discusses the role of child care centers in early childhood education & the role of early childhood educators & how to improve their training. Witnesses: Pascal Forgione, Commissioner, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Education; & Faith Wohl, Executive Director, Child Care Action Campaign, New York, NY.

These hearing transcripts present testimony before the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the 105th Congress on early childhood education and related services. Participants provided different perspectives on early education, focusing on the academic achievement of American students, especially in comparison to students in other countries; the importance of early childhood longitudinal studies; the role of child care centers; and improving early childhood educators' qualifications. Speakers included Senators James Jeffords (Vermont), Tim Hutchinson (Arkansas), Susan Collins (Maine), and Jack Reed (Rhode Island). Providing expert testimony were the commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics and the executive director of the Child Care Action Campaign. Witnesses indicated that basic measures from the National Household Education Survey document tremendous variation in the skills children bring to kindergarten. Studies of child care in the United States report that the vast majority of centers provide poor to mediocre care. One participant compared U.S. child care programs to early education programs in France, noting differences in caregiver qualifications and compensation, as well as other programmatic differences. This witness also recommended accelerating the move toward universal prekindergarten programming and increasing accreditation efforts. A report on data needs for early childhood development and learning readiness is appended. (KB)

This third volume of PISA 2012 results explores students’ engagement with and at school, their drive and motivation to succeed, and the beliefs they hold about themselves as mathematics learners.