Following the Machinery of Government changes in June 2007 three new departments were set up in place of the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Trade and Industry. This 2007 Autumn Performance Report identifies the targets applicable to the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCFS) and charts its progress against the Spending Review 2004 (SR04), Public Service Agreement (PSA) targets and introduces a new suite of Comprehensive Spending Review Public Service Agreements (CSR07). There is also a chapter on targets from the Spending Review 2002 PSA targets that are still outstanding.
This second report, entitled "The Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Children's Plan", (HCP 213, session 2007-08, ISBN 9780215514691) from the Children, Schools and Families Committee examines the creation of the new Department for Children, Schools and Families. The Department has sole responsibility for early years education and the schooling of children between 5 and 13, but in other areas, such as education for 14-19 year olds, it operates jointly with other Government departments, in partcular the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. The Committee welcomes the Departmental focus on children, but expresses some reservations in regard of joint responsibility which it sees as leading to a lack of clarity in regard of responsibility and a dilution in decision making. The Committee believes clarity on which Department has specific responsibility is important, particularly with the introduction of the new Diploma system for 14-19 year olds. Also the Departments' Children's Plan does not at present have a timetable of action or a clear set of priorities and that the Department needs to be explicit on how it intends to drive improvements in services for children and familes. In total the Committee has set out 14 conclusions and recommendations covering: the new Department; the Children's Plan; Public Service Agreements; schools' funding; efficiency and productivity.
In 2007, the Department for Children, Schools and Families commissioned Sir Peter Williams to undertake an independent review of the quality of primary mathematics teaching and his report was published in June 2008. This report evaluates, in particular: raising attainment and progress in mathematics and narrowing achievement gaps between certain pupils and their peers; and the delivery and effectiveness of the Primary National Strategy's resources and interventions and their impact on pupil and school performance. It was found that bringing greater structure and consistency to the way primary mathematics is taught, the Strategy initially helped to improve test results at Key Stage 2. Since 2000, however, attainment has levelled off. It is too early to tell if the 2007 revisions to the Strategy will deliver the step change required. The report makes recommendations on this basis.
The 2020 edition of the Alabama Standards for Early Learning and Development (ASELD) has been developed to support all professionals who interact with young children, birth to age 5. The Standards have been aligned with both national and state program standards and program requirements so that adults who work directly with children in infant-toddler or preschool classrooms, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, child care facilities, home visiting programs, or special education settings will be able to use the document to guide their interactions and instructional practices. Instructors in higher education, high school and career and technical programs are encouraged to introduce pre-service students to the standards through their coursework. Professional development specialists and technical assistance specialists who reference the standards within their training and coaching empower professionals' understanding and use of the ASELDs to cultivate high quality early learning programs. Professionals who write special education plans can use them to specify children's goals. In short, the ASELDs offer one single set of expectations for Alabama's young children that extend across all program types.The ASELDs follow a unique format that includes learning progressions or indicators for children's learning, birth to age 5. Each double page provides a sequence of development for specific strands within the ASELDs' domains.The ASLEDs are organized into 4 sections with 8 domains of learning for children and a 9th domain that describes the ways in which professionals and families work together to support children's learning. The eight children's domains portray a comprehensive view of children's learning and are further supplemented through the additional domain of Family and Community Engagement.Each of the eight learning domain segments in the ASELDs has 4 key parts: 1) a domain introductory page; 2) the learning progressions, birth to 5 years or 60 months; 3) recommendations for adaptations and accommodations to support children with unique needs; and 4) foundational practices for professionals. These pages work together to guide all professionals, regardless of the early learning setting, in the design and use of age, culturally, and linguistically appropriate learning standards for all young children, birth to age 5.
Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has made progress in improving its financial management, with strong commitment at senior management and board level. The Department's ability to reach a high standard of financial management depends partly on successful working with local authorities, other partner organisations, and the schools themselves. It does, however, face specific challenges, including the need for better strategic management of its large capital programme, and to encourage better financial management in schools. The Department has built up a large capital underspend, which increased from £1.9 billion at 31 March 2008 to around £2.4 billion at the end of March 2009. Its capital expenditure programme will need to be carefully managed given the history of underspending and the challenge of bringing forward £924 million of expenditure from 2010-11 to 2009-10 as part of the Government's fiscal stimulus. At March 2008, schools in England had a net cumulative surplus of £1.9 billion. Only 1 in 5 local authorities reduced their total net school surplus in 2007-08. Local authorities are accountable for school spending and the Department should encourage them to redistribute excessive uncommitted surpluses in line with local needs. The Department was, in 2007, one of three departments which had not implemented in-year accruals accounting systems, which would help to improve the accuracy of financial forecasting and reporting. The planned introduction of a shared services arrangement for finance with procurement and personnel support should also help improve financial management and lead to efficiencies.
"This is a resource for school-based practitioners, including psychologists, counselors, social workers, and special education consultants; clinical child psychologists; inservice and preservice teaches; and school administrators. It will serve as a text in courses on school consultation, building home-school partnerships, parent counseling, and parent education."--BOOK JACKET.
Now in its second edition, Speech and Language Therapy: the decision-making process when working with children reveals how recent research and changes in health and education services have affected the decision-making process in the assessment and management of children with speech and language problems. With individual chapters written by experts in their field, this book: Illustrates how the decisions made by practitioners may vary within different work settings Shows how these decisions may need to be adapted when working with specific client groups Explores how such decisions are part of effective evidence-based practice Offers an overview of the skills required by the developing professional Provides insight into working as a newly qualified therapist in the current job market. Rigorously underpinned with current research and revised legislation, this is an important textbook for speech and language therapy students, potential students and specialist teachers in training. Speech and Language Therapy: the decision-making process when working with children will also be relevant to newly qualified therapists, therapists returning to the profession, specialist teachers and Special Educational Needs Coordinators.
