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Peer Review

Foundations and Current Issues of Early Childhood Education

Reviewed:
Jan 24, 2022 by Teacher Education
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.2 stars
Content Quality: 4.5 stars
Effectiveness: 4.2 stars
Ease of Use: 4.2 stars
Overview:

The Early Childhood Education reading material is a resource located on a collaborative, open source book authoring website, Wikibooks. The pages offer reading passages, essay prompts and questions to consider, along with additional resources related to the topic(s) presented on the webpage.

Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:

The material can used in different ways. Class instructors may want to use a portion of the source in class setting, another portion as homework. When they assign the material as homework, they can distribute either invidually or in groups. Since there is a vast quantity of material, teachers may consider use a bit of that in their lectures. 

Technical Requirements:

Users will only need stable internet connection and any browser: Google, Firefox, etc. 

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The purpose of the resource is to provide select readings, quizzes and essay topics related to Early Childhood Education to include the following central concepts: achievement gap, early literacy, differentiation in instruction, kindergarten readiness, multicultural issues, No Child Left Behind, Reggio Emilia, school role in early childhood health and universal preschool.

Target Student Population:

College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Early Childhood Education Majors

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
  • Early Childhood Education foundations as prerequisite knowledge
  • Users should be proficient in English.
  • Users should be able to navigate a basic webpage with hyperlinks.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

The content illustrates enough information about early childhood development. It contains data about: achievement gap, early literacy, differentiation in instruction, kindergarten readiness, multicultural issues, no child left behing, among others. The content is appropriate for students who are majoring in education or early childhood development. If used with the appropriate learners, the material will be of relevant use for the academic preparation of teacher candidates. The format supports a learner-focused approach; topics are relevant and ideas coherent.

Concerns:
  • The resource lacks in-text citations on select pages, which makes the reader question the validity of the concepts.
  • The reference list is dated.
  • There are spelling and grammar errors throughout.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

One of the learning objectives is to illustrate different implications of early childhood development. After being exposed to portions of the course material, learners are expected to amplify their analysis on early childhood development and the implications. The material can be used in a learning stage when students have already explored basics of education. Learners should be enrolled in an education program at a college level. The learning material can be easily incorporated into a curriculum addressed to pre-service teachers. 

  • After completing each reading, learners should be able to respond appropriately to the multiple-choice questions and the essay.
  • Instructors-of-record could integrate portions of the readings into their curriculum materials.
  • The resource could be used in a variety of ways, to include self-paced, independent readings, paired readings, or as an optional self-assessment.
Concerns:
  • Intended learning outcomes/objectives are not explicit.
  • Instructors-of-record should carefully select portions of the readings that are appropriate to include in their curriculum.
  • Instructors will need to provide up-to-date examples and illustrations when using this text.
  • Instructors will need to provide other relevant and valid content as a complement to this resource.
  • This resource lacks multiple perspectives and balanced viewpoints on select concepts, for example The Achievement Gap.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

The website material has been organized into a table of contents. There is a list of 9 topics. When users click on a topic, they will be directed to 3 versions of the topics. Each version contains a good number of resources as well as evaluation material such as essay questions, or questionnaires. The material has been incorporated into a wiki which means others users can add information as they consider pertinent

Concerns:
  • There are no instructions provided for this resource.
  • Since there are multiple versions of the content available on the site, readers need to navigate each webpage, or at least the most recent page to access the latest overview.
  • Accurate and precise language are needed throughout the resource.
  • If properly logged in, users can add or delete information
Other Issues and Comments:
  • Illustrations such as photographs, pictures and graphs would help stimulate interest and learning in the topics.
  • Consider diverse learners/learning styles. Digital text should be malleable and customizable for students with disabilities or other learning needs. This is not a key feature or strength of this resource.
  • Concerns about users manipulating the content.
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