I have been learning about the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators (NAECTE). On the website, I learned through the link entitled "Annual Conferences" that the organization meets during the fall and spring NAEYC conferences and that there is no registration fee for the NAECTE meeting because it is included in the NAEYC registration fee. On the "Affiliates" link, 13 states are listed as having affiliation with the organization and 11 of them list contact emails for the state's representative. The site provides a "ResearchNet" link where teacher educators can form relationships with other professionals and work together to perform research at their respective universities. The "Awards and Funding" tab details the names of recent recipients of the various awards NAECTE gives. Other tabs have book titles members have published, information for members, and a link where members can submit journal entries for publication.
The tab for the position statement, by-laws, and policies states the organizations' emphasis on qualified early childhood educators being knowledgeable about development and learning in the early years. The position statement re-states the impact of high-quality early education on a child's life. It also highlights the importance of public schools making it a priority to hire staff that has an early childhood endorsement for positions in the lower grades to help close the achievement gap and meet the needs of lower income and ESLchildren.
There is no new information from the e-newsletter. It is published quarterly and the last installment was February 2013.
After reading the position statement, I have learned that the organization supports high-quality programs and highly educated early childhood staff. The statement included the importance of all children receiving a positive education from a teacher who knows how young children learn best and what is age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate material. It also addressed the importance of social/emotional development in young children and stated that caring relationships with teachers will help children develop the way they need to.
Because the information on the website is informational and the newsletter is published quarterly, there wasn't any new insights I received this week.
I am going to the NAEYC spring conference in June. I hope to stop by the NAECTE meeting while I am there and talk to some of the representatives.
Laurie-
ReplyDeleteI have also been researching the NAECTE Association's website. I find it odd that they only publish newsletters 4 times a year. What do you think the reason is?
Thank you for your blog post, making it known through-out society that affording children QUALITY child care, children can in turn make positive impacts in society. I am not sure why it is so hard for others to identify the need for quality care. Maybe we as professionals should start protesting. Nice post.
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