Pilot Test of a Quality Rating and Improvement System in Early Education Programs in Magadan oblast, RF, and in Minnesota, USA

Quality in early childhood education matters. Scholarly research has demonstrated the critical importance of the first three years of a child’s life. The experiences and interactions children have in these early years significantly affects brain development and helps to establish the foundation for future learning. The topic of this study was to pilot test a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) in early education programs in Magadan, Russian Federation (RU) and in Mankato, Minnesota, United States of America (USA). The purpose of this study was to understand the use of a specific instrument to provide direction for the improvement of the quality of the learning environments in early childhood classrooms in two countries. Investigators hypothesized that the selected QRIS will be reliable for reviewers of programs in the two countries. This project examined two questions: 1. Is the Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) useful to compare early childhood education in Magadan, RU and early childhood education programs in Mankato, Minnesota, USA? 2. What is the level of agreement among reviewers in the US and in Russia, using scores on the GGA for one early childhood education program in Magadan, RU and for one early child-hood education program in Mankato, Minnesota, USA? The study included translation of the Global Guidelines Assessment (GGA) into Russian. One quality review (with multiple reviewers) was completed for one early education program in each country. Completed reviews by eleven reviewers were delivered to Minnesota State University,Mankato for data entry and analysis. The report includes: (1) descriptive data for reviewers and for early education programs and (2) inter-rater agreement (consistency among assessors). This study concluded that there was excellent interrater agreement among reviewers in Russia and in the US. As a result of this investigation, this study concluded that the Global Guidelines Assessment will be useful for comparing early childhood education programs in Magadan, Russian Federation and in Minnesota, USA because the GGA is easy, affordable, and reliable to use for quality improvement of early education throughout the world. Now the GGA may be used in Russia as well

Research-Based Course Re-Design for Human Relations in a Multicultural Society, Academic Years 2010-2012

Intercultural competence is one way to describe how individuals and groups understand and adapt their behavior to cultural differences. University students can increase their intercultural competence by understanding behaviors and by experiencing cultural differences. One way to do this is by participating in a course, such as Human Relations in a Multicultural Society. The course\u27s objective was to help students in understanding their own cultural roots, as well as those of other culture groups. This study responded to questions about the impact of multicultural education on intercultural competence among undergraduates. The data set included more than 130 students who took this general education course during the academic years 2010-11 and 2011-12. For purposes of instructional design and assessment, students completed the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI; Hammer et al., 2003) at the beginning and at the conclusion of each semester. During the first academic year, the researcher implemented the campus-based course according to the syllabus on file with the academic department. For the second academic year, the researcher re-designed the course to emphasize student experience with cultural differences rather than emphasizing student knowledge about cultural differences. Data analysis showed that the re-designed course made a statistically significant difference in student cross-cultural competence. Curriculum planners and instructors may find this information useful in considering the effectiveness of cultural diversity goals: experience diversity with supervised reflection and recognize and respond to conditions of marginalized populations

Review of Parent Education Resources for Adults with Low English Proficiency

This paper reviews seven parent education resources for adults with low English proficiency, focusing on materials that are flexible and adaptable to parent education programs. Each review lists the name and publisher of the resource, date of publication, cost, intended audience, content, goals, format, and reviewer comments. The resources include: (1) Nurturing Program for Parents and Young Children (Family Development Resources), a remedial parenting skills program; (2) Small Wonder (American Guidance Service), which uses activity cards to explain child development; (3) Child Care Picture Books (Minnesota Early Learning Design), a series of six parenting skills picture books available in English and Spanish; (4) Preparing for School in America (St. Paul Public Schools, Minnesota, a series of lesson plans for use by teachers with Hmong families; (5) Learning Together...for Hmong and Hispanic Families (United Way of St. Paul, Minnesota), a series of resources and activities for parent education programs; (6) Basic Parenting (Family Information Services), a workshop-by-mail program for educators and parents; and (7) Motheread/Fatheread/Baby Ready/Baby Steps (Motheread), a family literacy program. (MDM

Child Development and Behavior Guidance

Session 1: Introduction Session 2: Learning Styles and Sensory Modalities Session 3: Child Development Session 4: Faith Development Session 5: Discipline and Punishment Are Two Different Things Session 6: Alternatives for Behavior Guidance Session 7: The Mouths of Babes: Discussion Questions Worksheet: Selecting Strategies for Behavior Guidance (English) Worksheet: Selecting Strategies for Behavior Guidance (Russian

Intercultural Partnerships that Foster Cultural Competence among Undergraduate Students

Welcome to my poster presentation: Intercultural Partnerships that foster cultural competence among undergraduate students. Higher education institutions are increasingly committed to fostering equitable access; incorporating global perspectives into teaching, learning, and research; building international and intercultural competence among students, faculty, and staff; and establishing relationships and collaborations with people and institutions throughout the world. Since 2010, I have collected data with the Intercultural Development Inventory (Hammer, 2003; 2011) to assess the course’s impact on students’ developmental orientation to cultural differences