2010 April » Diane E. Levin

A Lesson from Northern Ireland for Secretary Duncan: If You Want Success in School, Young Children Need Quality Play, Not Direct Instruction and Tests

Education & Teaching, Play and Toys, Pretend & Real Violence

Apr 042010

A Lesson from Northern Ireland for Secretary Duncan: If You Want Success in School, Young Children Need Quality Play, Not Direct Instruction and Tests

Dear Secretary Duncan, I am writing to voice my concerns about the deeply misguided route down which you are taking early childhood education in the United States. I feel this more strongly now than ever having just returned from Belfast, Northern Ireland, where I took Wheelock College students on a service learning program looking at [Click for more...]

Defending the Early Years Project

The purpose of the DEY project is to rally educators to speak out on how current policies and reforms are affecting early childhood education. We'll be collecting evidence from across the country, surveying teachers, program directors, and child development experts, publishing our findings, and doing everything we can to make our collective voices heard. Please send me experiences you have had that you are willing to share. We will put them to good (anonymous) use.

DEY has an op-ed piece,“How ed policy is hurting early childhood education,” on Valerie Strauss’s Washington Post “Answer Sheet”.

Read Diane's related blogpost thanking California Governor Jerry Brown for his decision to reduce the number of standardized tests students take in school!

Also check out Diane's letter to the editor from The Boston Globe Sept. 28, 2011, in response to “Heartbreaking Point,” an article by Laurie Swope about her son’s troubles in the “new” No Child Left Behind kindergarten.