The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University collaborates between the numerous resources with the school's campuses and hospitals to achieve their mission of "the belief that the vitality and sustainability of any society depend on the extent to which it expands opportunities early in life for all children to achieve their full potential and engage in responsible and productive citizenship."
One of the tools offered by the Center on the Developing Child was the "Decision-Maker's Guide". This tool offers guidelines and explanations through the use of 5 key questions to assist leaders in determining relevance of program evaluations and policy decisions in early childhood. This tool assists leaders in going through many details of programs and policies in effort to put everything together in a step by step manner.
In Santiago, Chile there is a collaborative effort with the "Un Buen Comienzo" (A Good Start) project. The project is striving to improve the quality of early childhood education through professional development of teachers. While working with 4-6 year-old children, the project focuses on language development while also intervening in health areas and including family involvement. Through incorporating a comprehensive evaluation tool, the project will put Chile at the forefront of demonstrating the impact of quality early education in Latin America.
Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância is a program in Brazil that is working toward guiding better policies and investments in children and families through the use of science of child health and development.
Each of these efforts shows how a university in America is working collectively with local professionals and leaders in other countries to work toward a common goal of improving child helath and development. Each organization is striving for excellence while providing information to assist professionals in achieving success in policies and practices in the eraly childhood field.
I think its wonderful that efforts are being made to make early childhood programs in other countries like Chile more acessible to families.
ReplyDeleteHi Terri,
ReplyDeleteThe tool offered by the center on the Developing Child was the "Decision Maker's Guide is a wonderful tool to assist leaders in determining relevance of program evaluations and policy decision in early childhood. This tool is great to assist leaders. Thank you Terri, for sharing this helpful tool.