Early Childhood Education Research
Let's look at a few useful sources to get you started in your exploration of early childhood education. We'll even cover formal educational programs for serious prospective scholars.
Anyone can publish an opinion on the web, but that doesn't make it accurate or useful. Students, scholars, and other self-learners can find reliable information through government websites, online academic journals, and professional education organizations.
Early Childhood Research and Practice
Let's start with a prominent open-access journal: Early Childhood Research and Practice. Originally sponsored by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, this scholarly publication is relatively unique in that it is bilingual (English and Spanish), peer-reviewed, and offered online in its entirety for free.
The journal includes editorial features, policy analysis, and reports from related conferences. Readers will also find papers exploring cutting-edge research in the field on topics ranging from new curricula to integrating classroom technology.
U.S. DOE
The U.S. Department of Education, or DOE, offers parents tips on promoting effective early childhood education. Topics include promoting reading and preparing young children academically and emotionally for preschool. Teachers may also be interested in the DOE's professional development program for early childhood educators. Also, policy wonks and other individuals interested in early childhood education will want to check out the numerous articles on the early learning initiative.
ERIC
The U.S. Department of Education has another initiative, the Education Resources Information Center, or ERIC. While the DOE website provides information on education policy and how-to resources for parents and teachers, ERIC is an online compendium of academic journal articles related to education.
Researchers will find a comprehensive list of cutting-edge early childhood education articles via this site. While many of them come from peer-reviewed academic journals that require readers to pay for the full text , the DOE provides useful links for finding these journals at your local or university library. Whenever articles are licensed for free online publication, ERIC offers the full text so researchers don't have to track down the original journal.
NIEER
The National Institute for Early Education Research offers a large database of articles on early childhood education research. Many of the articles focus on policy analysis and recommendations, although they also include social and psychological research. People have access to policy reports, a print news magazine, and working papers, among other sources. The institute even conducts research and works with policy makers across the nation.
NAEYC
The National Association for the Education of Young Children, or NAEYC for short, is another professional organization focused on early childhood education. It offers membership to individuals who work with children from birth to age eight. Membership in NAEYC comes with a free copy of one of the organization's print publications and discounted access to the Early Childhood Research Quarterly, an online scholarly journal.
However, the site also offers many free resources. Educators will find lots of useful information from the association, including articles covering the latest research in the field and the 'Voices of Practitioners' series that offers advice from one instructor to another. The site also includes advice-oriented articles for parents and instructors that cover topics like going back to school and the importance of play.
Other Scholarly Journals
There are many peer-reviewed scholarly journals that publish articles on early childhood education, though most require paid subscriptions. A few excellent journals include:
- The American Educational Research Journal
- Child Development
- Developmental Psychology
- The International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education
- The Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
- The Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education
- The Journal of Early Intervention
- The Journal of Research in Childhood Education
Formal Training
Beyond journal articles, individuals who are interested in early childhood education may want to pursue a formal educational program in the field. Options are available at both the undergraduate and graduate degree levels. Students can earn a certificate, associate's degree, bachelor's degree, or a master's degree in the field. Some of these programs prepare individual for certification in the field.
Some topics of study included in these programs can include:
- Child development
- Observation and assessment
- Early childhood arts education
- Early childhood math education
- Early childhood literacy education
- Early childhood science education
- Cultural diversity
For individuals who want to learn more about early childhood education, there are a variety of credible educational resources available. These could include academic journals or government publications but might even extend to earning a degree at a university.