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HighScope Educational Research Foundation is an independent nonprofit research, development, training, and public outreach organization with headquarters in Ypsilanti, Michigan. HighScope's mission is to lift lives through HighScope Headquarters - Hutchinson House January 2008education. We envision a world in which all educational settings use active participatory learning so everyone has a chance to succeed in life and contribute to society. HighScope activities include - Training preschool and elementary teachers and administrators Conducting research projects on the effectiveness of educational programs Developing curricula for infant/toddler, preschool, elementary, youth development, and movement and music programs Developing early literacy curricula and assessment materials and conducting related research Presenting an annual International HighScope Conference for teachers and teacher-trainers Publishing books, videos, curriculum materials, and assessment tools for educators and researchers Operating a Demonstration Preschool in Ypsilanti, Michigan, that serves children in the local community and provides a model of "HighScope in action" for visiting educators Operating the HighScope Retreat and Meeting Center in Clinton, Michigan

The Future of Children is a collaboration of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution. The mission of The Future of Children is to translate the best social science research about children and youth into information that is useful to policymakers, practitioners, grant-makers, advocates, the media, and students of public policy. The project publishes two journals and policy briefs each year, and provides various short summaries of our work. Topics range widely - from income policy to family issues to education and health - with children's policy as the unifying element. The senior editorial team is diverse, representing two institutions and multiple disciplines. Since The Future of Children aims to reach a wide audience with the best objective research possible, the articles contained in the journals are literature reviews that provide a balanced view of the literature and evidence, review both basic and "policy-relevant" research to highlight what we know as well as what works, and avoid using overly technical language. The project also supports numerous outreach activities and conferences and an active website, including a blog and webcasts of many of our outreach presentations. In keeping with our commitment to reach a broad audience, we offer all electronic versions of our materials and attendance at our outreach forums free of charge. Print copies of the journal are often provided at no cost at our outreach events, and are available for sale on our website.

Our scales are designed to assess process quality in an early childhood or school age care group. Process quality consists of the various interactions that go on in a classroom between staff and children, staff, parents, and other adults, among the children themselves, and the interactions children have with the many materials and activities in the environment, as well as those features, such as space, schedule and materials that support these interactions. Process quality is assessed primarily through observation and has been found to be more predictive of child outcomes than structural indicators such as staff to child ratio, group size, cost of care, and even type of care, for example child care center or family child care home (Whitebook, Howes & Phillips, 1995).

"The Best Websites for Teaching and Learning honors websites, tools, and resources of exceptional value to inquiry-based teaching and learning as embodied in the American Association of School Librarians' Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. New for 2011, the Top 25 Websites foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover. The Landmark Websites are honored due to their exemplary histories of authoritative, dynamic content and curricular relevance. They are free, web-based sites that are user-friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover and provide a foundation to support 21st-century teaching and learning."

Compassionate Kids is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in the year 2004 by Kelly Palmatier, a vegan (vegetarian) foster/adoptive mom with a background in business, communications, and web design. Compassionate Kids, Inc. is dedicated to helping teach children compassion towards the Earth, people, and animals. The website, CompassionateKids.com, has articles, book reviews, and free printable activities. There are local chapters all across the country that host compassion-oriented field trips and community service events approximately once a month. Field trips and events vary from month to month and from state to state, but are always related to compassion. A field trip to an organic farm can teach about helping the Earth. A canned food drive benefits people. A visit to an animal sanctuary teaches about the value of all living creatures.

"We call on educators, policymakers, business leaders, families, and community members to work together on a whole child approach to education. What will prepare each young person to work in careers that have not yet been invented; to think both critically and creatively; and to evaluate massive amounts of information, solve complex problems, and communicate well? Research, practice, and common sense confirm that a whole child approach to education will develop and prepare students for the challenges and opportunities of today and tomorrow. Every school, community, classroom, educator, student, and family has unique challenges and strengths, and has a role to play in ensuring that each student is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Collectively we have the knowledge, skill, and ability to meet these challenges and share these strengths. Join us and our whole child partners as we change the conversation about education and move from a vision for educating the whole child to action that results in successful, well-rounded young people. Explore resources and opportunities for action here and on ASCD.org, and together we'll change the face of education policy and practice. Taken together across all five tenets and the central necessities of collaboration, coordination, and integration, our indicators related to each whole child tenet may serve as a needs assessment, set of strategic goals and outcomes, framework for decision making, or the definition of what a whole child approach to education truly requires."

This Scholastic web site contains a plethora of useful early childhood resources and information.

Join AbilityPath.org, Special Olympics, Best Buddies and more to take action and disable bullying.