8085 MD4 Assignment 3
Unique1961
MD4Assign2WinslowA.pptxAdvocacy Action Plan
“Exploring Language and Literacy Development in Early Childhood Education “
Angel Winslow
EDSD 7085: Inspired Leadership, Informed Advocacy, and Improved Policy
Module 4 Assignment 2
Date Due: November 9, 2022
Exploring Language and Literacy Development in Early Childhood Education
The advocacy program entails putting forward early literacy development in children as a critical area for advancing education. It is essential that children acquire language skills right from the young age so as to prepare them for lifelong learning and achievements. The advocacy requires participation of stakeholders of early literacy development that include families, parents, caregivers, educators, and policy makers in the area of early childhood education. Organization such as NAEYC ensure that teachers are properly trained to spearhead the acquisition of literacy and language skills in children. Center for Early Literacy Learning recommends that teachers and educators should use evidence-based practices to promote literacy skills in young learners.
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Advocating for language and literacy development in early childhood learners
Supporting literacy development for learners in early education setting
Working with stakeholders that include caregivers, family members, parents, educators and caregivers in literacy development
Advance the reading writing skills of young learners
NAEYC ensures that teachers and educators are well trained to guide young learners in meeting literacy needs
Center for Early Literacy Learning recommends use of evidence-based practices
Regulations and Policies associated with the topic
The common core state standards ensure uniformity in learning expectations in all the states in the United States of America. Common core standards for English and literacy the standards and expectations that language learners are expected to achieve. This standard apply to the advocacy issue because language learning starts at an early age. The third-grade reading law is a regulation that was adopted by many states across the country to ensure that young learners are able to read before they can be promoted to fourth grade. The third-grade reading law apply to the advocacy topic since reading is one of the essentials elements necessary for literacy development. No Child Left Behind of 2002 is a law that seeks to promote literacy by providing guidelines for administering literacy tests. Race to the Top is one of the laws that provided the groundwork for the establishment of common core standards. Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 is a law that guided the adoption of Common Core Standards as a policy area in literacy and learning development. The law led to the adoption of the policy called Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN) which promotes literacy education in the country (Castillo, 2020).
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The third-grade reading legislation
No Child Left Behind of (2002)
Race to the Top (2009)
Every Student Succeeds Act (2015)
Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN)
Ethical Factors that Shape Understanding of the Topic
One major key factor is the consideration of the NAEYC ethical ideas that guide the conduct of teachers and educators who work with young learners. NAEYC ethical core values require teachers to appreciate children as a vital stage of human life and support their development (Helm, & Katz, 2011). The advocacy program that seeks to promote literacy development appreciates children’s literacy capabilities and strengths. Professional responsibility to children is an ethical factor that professionals to do all that is necessary that offer the best professional services to children especially in the field of education. Advocacy program is one of the initiatives of achieving this responsibility. The other ethical factor is promoting the values of care, respect, fairness and honesty . This ensures that all children that deserve to participate in the program are given the opportunity without any form of discrimination.
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Application of NAEYC ethical standards in early childhood education
Professional responsibility to children
Acting in the best interest of young learners
Promoting the ethical values of care, fairness, respect, and honesty
Promoting learning and developmental for societal benefit
Policies that inform the Advocacy Topic
Literacy Education for All, Results for the Nation (LEARN)
Common Core State Standards that apply to English and Literacy
State Report Card on reading math, and science
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
Policies are had been written by the department of education
The policies that shape the advocacy topic all aim to promote literacy development in children. The Common Core State Standards seek to establish a common platform for assessment in reading and math. The National Assessment Educational Progress (NAEP) has the congressional mandate through the National Center for Statistics (NCES) to perform national assessment for comprehension and reading skills across the nation. It provides a national framework for reading assessment. The processes for changing these policies require the intervention of the Congress through the intervention of the department of education (Castillo, 2020).
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Policy Recommendations
A growing body of evidence indicates that learning experiences are associated with emotional and social well-being, reduction in deviant behaviors, and general ergonomics. For early childhood education programs to achieve language and literacy development- which are the keys to learning and other academic development all children should be enrolled in institutions with strong literacy support. The teaching methodology used should be practical and full of fun. Abstract lessons make learning blurred for children. The early education programs should incorporate parents and families as much as possible to ensure continuity in learning beyond school. Learners with difficulties should be identified and offered the necessary support to enable them grasp the new concepts being taught (Office of Head Start, 2018). Assessment and evaluation for children in early education programs should be multimodal and take into account different aspects of development as opposed to focusing on one single area. The program for early language and literacy development needs to acknowledge that children learn best through observation and therefore the program should be visual, interactive and fun-filled.
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All children should be enrolled in ECE programs with strong literacy programs
Curricula used in ECE should be evidence-based and integrated with other learning domains
Assessment and evaluation of early literacy should be administered in multiple forms
Early childhood programs should involve parents and families in their programs
Students should be offered adequate support to grasp new skills and schemas
Stakeholders
Parents who have children in early childhood education setting
Families who support children in early childhood education
Caregivers in early childhood education setting
Educators and teachers in early childhood education setting
Policy makers in the field of education
The advocacy program will work with parents who have children in early childhood education setting. The parents and families will occupy a significant position in the advocacy program. Their support for the advocacy will significantly contribute to its success. Other than parents, families, and caregivers; The advocacy program will involve teachers, educators and policy makers in education.
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Organizations Connected to Advocacy Effort
NAEYC and CEL are some of the organizations that are connected to the early childhood literacy program. They support educators and young learners for the purpose of promoting and developing literacy skills in early childhood education setting.
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National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL)
The two institutions promote early literacy learning
The institutions are connected to the literacy development in early childhood education
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
NAEYC is funded by the members, federal government, state government, members and parents. The organization has the advocacy messages for promoting education quality, promoting networking among education professionals and teachers and ensure that teachers can work together. Teachers, parents, and family members are some of its target audience (Helm, & Katz, 2011).
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NAEYC is funded by the by the federal government, members, parents and well-wishers
NAEYC interacts with educators and other education stakeholders to collect data to identify problem areas
The target audience are teachers, parents, caregivers, families, and school administrators
NAEYC’s advocacy messages include improvement of the quality of education, working together as educators, networking to connect with professionals
NAEYC provides printed materials to members, relies on funding from members and the federal government as some of the resources
Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL)
Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL) offers technical assistance and research to teachers and parents for the purpose of promoting literacy development in early childhood education and attending to children with special needs. The organization is funded by the department of education. The target audience for the organization include researchers, parents, teachers, librarians, coaches, and trainers. CELL provide technical guides and assistance to teachers and parents dealing with children with special needs. Advocacy message to the audience include research for literacy improvement, and protection of special need learners (Dunst et al. 2013).
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CELL is funded by the department of education
Cell uses data to identify the need for research and identify problem areas in literacy
The target audience for CELL are parents, practitioners, librarians, researchers, coaches and trainers.
The advocacy messages being delivered to the identified audience are research for literacy, attending to literacy needs of special learners and working with parents to promote literacy activities
The resources include research materials, CELL practice guides for teachers and parents, and support to for special need learners
Advocacy Goals
In 6 months identify children in the community who need literacy support
In 6 months identify the stakeholders to support and promote the program
In 2 years procure the necessary reading and literacy materials
In 5 years achieve improvement in literacy performance for learners in preschool to grade 3
The goals identified above are short- and long-term targets that the advocacy program intends to achieve. The ultimate achievement of this advocacy program will to be improved the reading and writing skills of children who transition from grade 3 to fourth grade. This is the most common objective in most states that is in accordance to the grade 3 reading requirement policy. The steps to realize the goals will include working with parents to identify literacy needs, raising funds to procure literacy materials, and recruiting children into the literacy program.
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Monitoring the success of the Advocacy Program
Evaluation is one critical tool that is to determine whether a program makes progress or note. Assessment reveal deviations or gaps that can be corrected for better performance (Tosuncuoglu, 2018). The advocacy program will use evaluation and assessment tools to determine the progress made in terms of quality. NAEYC ethical guidelines and professional standards will be used as the gauge to assess the adherence to the required ethical standards.
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Quality in literacy development will be measured using grading tools
Assessments tools will be used to determine improvement in literacy performance
Reading and test will be performed
NAEYC ethical guidelines and ethical standards will be used as a guide
Social justice will be evaluated based on the ability of the advocacy program to promote equality and equity
References
Castillo, W. (2020). Do Elementary Students Reading Motivation Levels Differ by Racial/Ethnic And/Or Immigrant Background?. Journal of Latinos and Education, 1-12.
Dunst, Carl J., Andrea Valentine, Melinda Raab, and Deborah W. Hamby. "Relationship between child participation in everyday activities and early literacy and language development." Center for Early Literacy Learning 6, no. 1 (2013): 1-16.
Helm, J. H., & Katz, L. G. National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)(2011). Young investigators: The project approach in the early years.
Tosuncuoglu, I. (2018). Importance of Assessment in ELT. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 6(9), 163-167.
