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ACEI Media Kit

The ACEI media kit contains:

• ABOUT ACEI
• POSITION PAPER SUMMARIES
• WORLDWIDE REPRESENTATION
• ACEI PUBLICATIONS
• ANNUAL CONFERENCE
• WHO TO CONTACT
• EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHY: PAST PRESIDENT, DR. JEANIE BURNETT
• EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHY: PAST PRESIDENT, DR. JACQUELINE BLACKWELL
• EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHY: PAST PRESIDENT, DR. NANCY QUISENBERRY

• The organization was founded on July 15, 1892, as the International Kindergarten Union (IKU) by kindergarten teachers and other interested professionals to “gather and disseminate knowledge of the kindergarten movement throughout the world.”

• In 1930, the I.K.U. adopted a new constitution that included nursery school, kindergarten, and primary representation in a single organization, and adopted a new name, the Association for Childhood Education.

• ACEI is an organization of teachers, parents, and other adults interested in promoting best educational practices for children from infancy through early adolescence. Members around the world share a dual commitment to the fulfillment of every child's potential and to the professional development of teachers.

• ACEI led the way toward Equal Rights for all teachers, well before Civil Rights laws were enacted, through two resolutions: 1) In 1949, it refused a request that the organization recognize separate state associations for Black and White teachers; 2) In 1950, it resolved that an invitation to host the Annual Conference must include a statement giving assurance that Black members and members from other countries would have equal access to the hotel facilities in the host city.

• In the early 1960s, ACEI was one of three education organizations that helped establish a nationwide program for the training, assessment, and credentialing of Child Development Associate (CDA) candidates. ACEI played a pivotal role to ensure that the CDA competencies, assessments, and credentialing contributed to a quality professional program for young children.
  
  
• ACEI, as a nongovernmental organization (NGO), is represented at the United Nations and has been granted consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and UNICEF. ACEI actively supports the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the most highly ratified human rights agreement in history.
  
  
• In 1987, ACEI signed an archival deposit arrangement with the University of Maryland at College Park and transferred its extensive archival collection, along with 700 volumes of children's books and seminal works relating to childhood education, to the University. The Archives contain approximately 120 linear shelf feet of office files, personal papers, photographs, artifacts, and memorabilia. The collection is a major resource for research on childhood education.
  
  
• ACEI conducts training sessions on the program review process for universities and colleges seeking national accreditation in elementary education. ACEI is a constituent member of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and since 1989 has worked with NCATE to raise the standard of preparation for educators.
  
  
• For more than a decade, ACEI has been one of only 14 organizations involved in selecting the National Teacher of the Year.

How does ACEI accomplish its mission?

• ACEI conducts workshops and travel/study tours abroad and offers awards for excellence in education. It also maintains liaisons with government agencies, cooperating organizations, teaching institutions, and manufacturers and designers of materials and equipment for a variety of subjects and bibliographies of children's literature.
  
  
• ACEI publishes educational resources, including its award-winning journal, Childhood Education, the Journal of Research in Childhood Education and a series of Professional Focus newsletters.
  
  
• ACEI publishes hundreds of resources for parents and teachers, including books, pamphlets, compilations, audio tapes, and video tapes.
  
  
• ACEI members prepare concise, specific position statements that are supported by research and theory.

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ACEI POSITION PAPERS: SUMMARIES

Banning Corporal Punishment of Children

Beyond Benchmarks and Scores: Reasserting the Role of Motivation and Interest in Children's Academic Achievement

ACEI asserts that learning is a complex process that needs to be redefined, and believes that educational practices require a more sophisticated understanding of learning. ACEI believes that learning relies on a range of motivational strategies that include both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards that relate to the individual student, the domain, and the sociocultural context, and are relevant to the specific task. ACEI believes that effective teaching is more than imparting knowledge, and is dependent on the educator's ability to motivate. ACEI declares that any characterization of learning that disregards the full range of influences on learning-such as disposition, engagement, interest, and motivation-is shortsighted and incomplete.

The Child-Centered Kindergarten

ACEI advocates child-centered kindergarten programs that encourage active experiential learning, are developmentally appropriate, increase independence, and promote joy in learning--staffed by teachers who are professionally prepared to work with young children.

Child-Centered Middle Schools

ACEI believes middle school educators need to ensure that all aspects of the school day have a child-centered focus, and that they do not succumb to the many pressures facing schools. Educators must offer genuine commitments to monitor curricular, instructional, guidance, and environmental practices to ensure a child-centered middle school.

The Child's Right to the Expressive Arts: Nurturing the Imagination as Well as the Intellect

ACEI believes that in a school committed to the expressive arts, children learn how to bring order out of chaos, to use their frames of mind, to interpret symbols, to be open to feelings, to develop a tolerance for ambiguity, and to seek problems as well as solutions. The most enlightened educational visions will be connected by the common thread of imagination, creativity, and the expressive arts.

The Child's Right to Creative Thought and Expression

Creativity requires guidance and coaching from caring adults, and it is a collaborative process. Therefore, the definition of creativity must be enriched, redefined, and enlarged in alignment with contemporary theory and research. ACEI believes that supporting the child's right to creative thought and expression will transform the classroom. It is ACEI's position that all children have the right to have their interests and abilities affirmed and nurtured; furthermore, all children deserve opportunities for creative thought and expression.

Infants and Toddlers with Special Needs and Their Families

ACEI affirms the right of all infants, toddlers, and family members to child care, education, and intervention, delivered by trained personnel who have appropriate certification and/or licenses and who are equitably compensated. The organization supports Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which specifically prohibits discrimination by nursery schools, child care centers, and family child care homes against individuals with disabilities.

On Standardized Testing

ACEI unequivocally holds the belief that all testing of young children in preschool and grades K-2, and the practice of testing every child in the late elementary years, should cease. The classroom setting and the teacher are central to an authentic, performance-based assessment that, over time, guarantees a greater understanding of the growth of individual children, which should reduce the need for any of the testing programs that currently exist.

Play: Essential for All Children

ACEI recognizes the need for children of all ages to play and affirms the essential role of play in children's healthy development. The organization believes that adults have a crucial role in carefully structuring and planning the use of toys and equipment to enable children to interact spontaneously with their learning environment.

Preparation of Early Childhood Education Teachers

ACEI states that whatever the setting (child care centers, home care, Head Start programs, nursery schools, kindergartens, public or private primary schools), qualified teachers of young children should be licensed and/or certified and recognized professionals in their field. Early childhood teachers should be graduates of an accredited four-, five- year, or post degree teacher preparation program with professional study and experience recognizing the unique education needs of young children.

Preparation of Elementary Teachers

ACEI asserts that the qualified elementary education teacher should be a graduate of an accredited teacher preparation program, or be certified through an accredited alternate program that requires a bachelor's degree in addition to professional study. Qualified teachers must be recognized as professionals in their field.

The Right to Quality Child Care

ACEI declares the child's right to quality care as fundamental. Exploring reasons and evidence for child care, it urges businesses, government agencies, religious organizations, foundations, service groups, school systems, professionals, and private citizens to act together in establishing quality care for all children.

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ACEI WORLD REPRESENTATION

Affiliation with the United Nations:

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ACEI PUBLICATIONS

Childhood Education: Six times per year, ACEI publishes its award-winning journal Childhood Education, which features articles about innovative classroom practices, vital issues affecting teachers and children, and research.

Journal of Research in Childhood Education: This international journal of research on the education of children is published quarterly (beginning 7/03). Reports include empirical research, theoretical articles, ethnographic and case studies, and cross-cultural studies.

Professional Focus Quarterlies: These eight-page quarterly publications include articles that blend news, developmentally appropriate activities, and tips, designed for educators and parents of children within each age group.

Focus on Infants and Toddlers
Focus on Pre-K & K
Focus on Elementary
Focus on Middle School
Focus on Teacher Education
Focus on Inclusive Education

ACEI Speaks: Brochures that teachers can give to parents at conferences and back-to-school nights on the following topics:

In addition, ACEI publishes numerous books written for educators and for parents.

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ACEI CONTACTS:

At ACEI Headquarters: 301.570.2111 or 1.800.423.3563, fax 301.570.2212

ACEI EXECUTIVE BOARD
(To reach board members, contact Sheri Levin at ACEI HQ)

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Revised April 2008

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This page is copyrighted by the Association for Childhood Education International. Please send any comments to Sheri Levin at slevin@acei.org.