Five Flies in the Ointment

Articl

ETIC and EMIC views of early childhood education in Singapore

Well-qualified women in Singapore working in professional fields including banking and marketing have many views about early childhood education for their own children as well as in general. Our study examined the views and attitudes of a group of these women who were recently retrenched and had decided to retrain as child-care professionals. After a pre-treatment attitudinal survey, participants engaged in a five-day workshop exploring the SEARCH heuristic (Geoghegan, 2002). A post-treatment attitudinal survey was administered. Results indicated a consensus of what constitutes quality in Singaporean early childhood education. The consensus reflected humanistic perspectives that appear at odds with Singapore’s international reputation for formal, academically-structured early childhood education

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): Characteristics of the Cash Assistance Caseload

[Excerpt] This report examines the TANF cash assistance caseload, focusing on how the composition and characteristics of families receiving assistance have changed over time. It first provides a brief history of cash assistance for needy families with children, discussing how policy became focused on moving the predominately single parents who headed these families from welfare to work. It then traces the changes in the caseload composition since the 1996 welfare reform law, from a caseload dominated by unemployed single parents to a diverse caseload that had different routes to the benefit rolls as well as different circumstances on the rolls. It provides detail on caseload characteristics in FY2010, using data that states are required to report to the federal government. The report is intended to complement tabulations of these data already released by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)