My Ultimate Research Dream

If I could conduct research on any topic in child development that would have long lasting benefits to society, I would conduct research on common core standards and its effect on the early childhood field.  I personally have concerns regarding common core and its top down approach to education.   The fact that it was produced by the National Governor's Association does little for me in the way of convincing me of the educational value of the standards.  According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (2012), the focus on only two standards, and the absence of social-emotional development and approaches to learning is of great concern.  I would like to research how this is going to affect children's outcomes and if it is actually going to be beneficial.

References:
National Association for the Education of Young Children. (2012).  The common core standards: Caution and opportunity for early childhood education.  Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/11_CommonCore1_2A_rv2.pdf

New Course: EDUC 6163: My Research Journey

This course is entitled Building Research Competencies.  This week I am to post the topic that I am interested in that will serve as my research topic simulation.  I chose challenging behavior in young children, with subtopics of factors that contribute to the behavior, the difference between misbehavior and developmentally appropriate behavior and how to deal with both, and the role of parenting in challenging behavior.  I chose this topic because it is an issue that I deal with on a daily basis as a child development center director working with children in the classrooms.  I have found myself sometimes without a clue as to how to help a child who consistently displays inappropriate behavior, and nothing I or my colleagues do seems to help the behavior.  I would like to gather more information about why these behaviors occur and what can be done for to correct some of the more common ones.