Dear Readers:
We are pleased to welcome you to volume 13, number 2, of Early Childhood Research & Practice (ECRP), the first open-access, peer-reviewed, bilingual Internet journal in early care and education.
ECRP is a unique location where scholars and practitioners can learn from one another. The journal has received well over 1,200,000 user visits during 2011, with readers in more than 90 countries in addition to the United States. We continue to strive to improve the quality of the journal, which now has an acceptance rate of 14%.
During 2011, we took several steps to strengthen the journal’s presence in the field. Our primary accomplishment was publication of the 2-disc multimedia teacher resource titled Projects to Go. It includes a CD-ROM of selected ECRP articles (most in both English and Spanish) related to the Project Approach and the DVD “Rearview Mirror: Reflections on a Preschool Car Project.” See http://ceep.crc.uiuc.edu/pubs.html#sale for more information. Visiting scholar Dr. Leng Yan provided us with a Chinese translation of our 2009 interview with Dr. Bernard Spodek (http://ecrp.illinois.edu/chinese/issues/v11n1-ch/spodek-ch.pdf). We also added Chinese translations of nine articles from ECRP’s spring 2010 issue (http://ecrp.illinois.edu/chinese/v12n1-ch.html) thanks to the Yew Chung Education Foundation.
The current issue features two special sections. The section titled “Working with Families of Young Children” addresses three different aspects of program-family interactions. Douglass considers the concept of organizational context and ways it may affect relationships with parents in child care settings. Research on the potential benefits of relationship/marriage education for families of children in Head Start is the topic of a paper by Kirkland and colleagues. In a “Notes from the Field” article, Query, Ceglowski, Clark, and Li report on preliminary findings of a classroom teacher’s action research on use of a bilingual literacy enrichment kit by three Hispanic families with young children.
The second special section, “Professional Development of Early Childhood Educators,” includes five papers. Three of the papers (Broderick and Hong, Perez, and Wien) present varying perspectives on early childhood teacher preparation in higher education. In the same section, Parnell reports on an experience of mentoring and collaborating with an inservice teacher, and Byington and Tannock discuss results of an online survey assessing professional development interests of ECE trainers in Nevada.
In addition to the two special sections, this issue includes a paper on child care quality in relation to teacher characteristics and subsidy status (St. Clair-Christman, Buell, and Gamel-McCormick), an article about one state’s approach to assessing children’s skills at kindergarten entry (Goldstein and McCoach), and a practitioner report about an investigation of a strawberry farm conducted by a kindergarten class (Wheeler and Blank).
We hope that you find these articles useful.
We are asking for your help to ensure that ECRP can continue publication. We desperately need financial support in order to keep the journal available free of charge to users around the world. Our translation costs alone have doubled in recent months. The costs of editing, translation, correspondence, and Web design and maintenance amount to approximately $37,000 per year.
ECRP cannot accept advertising. Much like U.S. public radio and television, the journal depends on individual, foundation, and corporate sponsorship to support all of its operating costs. So we ask once again that you consider making a contribution to ECRP.
Contributions to ECRP are tax deductible! Donations to ECRP are managed by the University of Illinois Foundation (UIF). For instructions, see http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/donation.html.
Just imagine—if each of the journal’s 1,250,000 readers contributes just $5, we can keep the journal going indefinitely!
We thank the individuals who have contributed what they could to sustaining our efforts during 2011 and assure you that every little bit helps.
Please make your contribution today!
Please note that Spanish translations of several articles in volume 13, number 2, have been delayed. Translations will be made available as they are completed.
Lilian G. Katz, Editor
Jean A. Mendoza, Associate Editor
Susan Fowler, Associate Editor
Early Childhood Research & Practice (ECRP) is the first scholarly, peer-reviewed, bilingual (English-Spanish) open-access electronic journal in the field of early care and education. ECRP is sponsored by the Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The journal publishes research reports, literature reviews, essays, interviews, reflections, and commentary on emerging trends and issues by scholars and practitioners from around the world. Areas of emphasis include classroom practice, curriculum, ethics, teacher preparation, higher education, policy, and parent participation. Beginning with the Spring 2004 issue (Vol. 6, No. 1), ECRP is fully bilingual (English and Spanish). Chinese translations of selected articles are sponsored by the Yew Chung Education Foundation. ECRP is indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals.
Published biannually by the Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Children's Research Center, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, IL 61820-7469. Toll-free phone: 877-275-3227 (Formerly published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.)
Last updated:
January 24, 2012
