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Issue 51 of the Bank Street Occasional Papers Series "Reconceptualizing Quality Early Care and Education with Equity at the Center" is a response to Gunilla Dahlberg, Peter Moss, and Alan Pence's 25-year interrogation of the concept of quality in early childhood education (ECE) (Dahlberg et al., 1999, 2013, 2023). Their groundbreaking work has called early childhood educators to question deeply held assumptions about the universality of childhood and how these shape the standardization of practices in early childhood settings around the world. While quality is typically conceived of as existing primarily in classrooms, the authors in Issue 51 remind readers that the small world of ECE exists within oppressive systems imbued with intersecting racism, classism, sexism, and ableism, and that, therefore, a beyond quality praxis requires nurturing and supporting educators through partnerships (recognizing that resilience is social), developing political commitments and orientations through relationships, and mobilizing these relationships for collective action towards liberatory alternatives. The idea for this issue, which is a part of a broader project to identify and analyze promising, equity-committed early childhood policies and practices, emerged over the past few years.

The 2021 EUROCALL conference engaged just under 250 speakers from 40 different countries. Cnam Paris and Sorbonne Université joined forces to host and organise the event despite the challenging context due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally programmed to be held on site in the heart of Paris, France, the EUROCALL organising team and executive committee agreed to opt for a blended and then for a fully online conference. The theme of the 2021 EUROCALL conference was "CALL & Professionalisation". This volume, a selection of 54 short papers by some of the EUROCALL 2021 presenters, offers a combination of research studies as well as practical examples fairly representative of the theme of the conference. [This content is provided in the format of an e-book. Individual papers are indexed in ERIC.]

Issue #49 of the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series, "Indigenous Pedagogies: Land, Water and Kinship," brings together Indigenous educators and researchers to demonstrate how Indigenous teaching and learning takes form across contexts. Indigenous knowledge systems, values, and ways of being are understood and enacted within socio-ecological systems grounded in reciprocal kin relations. This means that for Indigenous peoples, teaching, learning, living, and being in relation with human and more-than-human beings is central to their knowledge systems. The authors worry that forwarding Indigenous pedagogies for educators broadly could result in a romanticization or appropriation of indigeneity, but hope that it will contribute broadly to sustainable and just futures.

This edited volume presents the latest research focussing on current challenges on the deployment of smart technologies and pedagogies for supporting teaching and learning in the post-covid19 era. This is at the core of studying the evolution of the learning process, the role of technology-supported pedagogical approaches, and the progress of educational technology innovations in the context of digital transformation in education and professional training. A selection of the best papers from the Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA) Conference, 2022 are included in this volume, bringing together high-quality research on Smart Pedagogies in the Post-Pandemic Era; Smart Learning Technologies in the Post-Pandemic Era; and Case Studies of Smart Learning Environments. The volume contributes to the discussion of current issues in digital education between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.

The 2022 EUROCALL conference was held in Reykjavik on 17-19 August 2022 as a fully online event hosted by the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute for Foreign Languages, the University of Iceland, and the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies. The conference theme was "Intelligent CALL, granular systems and learner data." This theme reflects the newest developments in the field of technology for language learning. Subfields such as natural language processing and machine learning not only enable smoother spoken and written communication between human learners and computers, but also offer ways in which language learning can be tailored to the needs of individual learners. By adding components of automatic speech recognition, text-to-speech systems, automatic feedback mechanisms, and tracking systems monitoring learners' progress and their use of tools, applications are becoming better targeted. All of this is used to optimise the learning experience of individual learners. This volume includes 66 short papers by some of the EUROCALL 2022 presenters and it offers a combination of research studies and theoretical papers reflecting the subthemes of the conference. The articles are ordered alphabetically. [This content is provided in the format of an e-book. Individual papers are indexed in ERIC.]

This issue of the Bank Street "Occasional Paper Series" brings together educators and researchers to (re)imagine what it means to teach and learn within the immediacy of the here and now, an orientation crucial to confronting contemporary threats to children's lives, democracy, and the planet. The papers seek to extend and broaden Bank Street College founder Lucy Sprague Mitchell's original conceptualizations by centering the past and future alongside the immediacies of the now, elevating Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) perspectives in children's geographies and exploring potentialities of mapping in analog as well as emerging digital forms. The authors also aim to carry forward her commitments to listening to children with curiosity and care, rooted in a belief that young people know a lot about the world already and that they are fully capable of delving deep into complex processes and problems. As such, this collection situates young peoples' here and now within sociopolitical landscapes, the wider nested systems and structures that constitute and reconstitute land, place, and children's geographies. The authors in this special issue extend, critique, and reimagine what it means to center young people's worlds and ways of knowing to make sense of the here and now.

Issue #50 of the Bank Street Occasional Paper Series, "Learning With Treescapes in Environmentally Endangered Times Learning with Treescapes in Environmentally Endangered Times," is intended to be hopeful. Articles in this issue contribute to the envisioning of new practices and to an architecture of knowledge to waymark a more sustainable route into the future. Trees are vital for the present and future health of the planet, its inhabitants, and ecosystems. They store carbon and breathe out oxygen. Their leaves filter dangerous pollutants. Their branches provide shade and a shelter for a myriad of other beings, allowing diverse species to thrive. They provide cooling, control erosion, and filter water. Articles in this issue include stories from teachers and their students about learning with trees, and descriptions of how engagements with trees can transform research and ways of thinking, feeling, and being. Across multiple pieces, authors reflect on how connecting with trees facilitates greater connection among humans and between humans and the more-than-human occupants of our planet.

This issue of the Bank Street "Occasional Paper Series" is authored by an allgirl/womxn cast who brilliantly offers insights into possible futures, considering opportunities to rethink education and abolish the patterns of harm too-often enacted in and by schooling as it currently exists. This special issue begins with four articles authored by Black and South East Asian women who describe researchers' reimaginations of education that center the humanity and ingenuity of Black, Indigenous, and other communities of Color. Next, the issue turns to 10 teachers who identify as Black, Indigenous, and of Color (Latinx and Asian American), as well as a White co-conspirator. They reflect on their practices, identities, and priorities through a North Star logic. In the final section of this issue, five children--Amelia, Fiona, Jojo (Johana), Lela Joy, and Sara--offer their thoughts on what it was like to be schooled during the pandemic. Their work demonstrates that authoring extends to numerous dimensions and modalities beyond letters, words, and other symbols typically associated with literacy in schools and schooling.

This edited volume brings together innovative research in the field of Science Education, fostering scientific citizenship in an uncertain world. The nineteen chapters presented in this book address diverse topics, and research approaches carried out in various contexts and settings worldwide, contributing to improving and updating knowledge on science education. The book consists of selected high-quality studies presented at the 14th European Science Education Research Association (ESERA) Conference, held online (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) by the University of Minho, Portugal, between August 30th and September 3rd, 2021. Being of great relevance in contemporary science education, this book stimulates reflection on different approaches to enhance a deeper understanding of how better prepare the coming generations, which is of great interest to science education researchers and science teachers.

This volume contains a selection of papers that were presented at the 53rd Annual Conference on African Linguistics, which was held virtually at the University of California San Diego. There are 21 papers covering phonology, morphology, syntax, lexical semantics, sociolinguistics, typology and historical linguistics. The volume features a keynote paper that proposes a novel community-based approach to language documentation. African languages investigated in detail include Wolof, Mende, Dangme, Kusaal, Nzema, Anii, Nigerian Pidgin, Tunen, Nyokon, Vale, Lokoya, Lopit, Otuho, Kalenjin, Tiriki, Oromo, Tigrinya, Asá, Qwadza, and Ikalanga.

After the global financial crisis, investment fell more substantially than it had in the wake of previous recessions. With investment seemingly recovering faster in the United States than in Europe, the fear of a lasting gap emerged in Europe. This detailed analysis compares the investment dynamics and capital accumulation in the United States and the European Union, focusing on 2013-2019. It uses data from Eurostat and EU KLEMS releases to highlight the gaps and variations in investment strategies across different countries and asset types. The working paper provides key insights into the investment rates, growth of real gross fixed capital formation, and accumulation of stocks. It reveals an investment gap primarily due to lower rates in tangible information and communication technology and intangible assets after the global financial crisis, particularly in larger EU Member States. In addition, the report provides an in-depth analysis of diverse asset types and their role in the investment dynamics. It uncovers the European Union’s strength in construction assets and its persistent gaps in information and communications technology and intangible assets, indicating a need to increase investments in these areas. Furthermore, the analysis discloses the heterogeneity within the European Union, with countries like Ireland, Czech Republic, and Sweden leading in investment rates, while others, including the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Spain, falling behind. This working paper is a tool for understanding the nuances of global investment trends and for formulating effective strategies to address identified gaps. It offers guidance and insights for policymakers, investors, and businesses operating in the global economic environment.

Many creditworthy non-financial firms are discouraged from applying for loans, resulting in a significant gap between their potential to receive credit and the reality. To quantify the credit gap, this study combines a credit allocation rule with a scoring model that assesses the creditworthiness of discouraged firms. It covers 35 emerging markets and developing economies and uses data from the 2018-2020 EBRD-EIB-World Bank Enterprise Survey. The results show that discouraged firms are less creditworthy than successful applicants, on average. However, the share of discouraged firms that are creditworthy is large, suggesting that credit to firms is being rationed by the financial sector. The results point to an average credit gap of 8.4% of GDP, with significant variation across countries. Small and medium-sized firms account for more than two-thirds of the total gap, reflecting both their large contribution to economic activity and the fact that they are more likely to be credit-constrained than larger firms.

The COVID-19 shock had a strong negative effect on aggregate economic performance, with the average firm taking a hit on sales revenues and financial performance. However, the effects varied from firm to firm. Were already-struggling firms hit hardest, threatening their very survival? Or did the COVID-19 shock disproportionately deter tomorrow’s superstars at the upper end of the distribution, thus sacrificing future growth potential? This paper investigates where the COVID-19 shock hit the firm growth distribution, using graphical techniques and quantile regressions to analyse the full distribution of firm growth rates. We investigate how the COVID-19 shock relates to growth outcomes for four dependent variables: growth of sales, value added, employment, and labour productivity. Our results confirm that COVID-19 policy support reached its intended recipients.

Using firm-level data from the EIB Investment Survey, this paper describes how firms in the European Union have been affected by recent trade-related shocks, such as disruptions to logistics or access to materials, and how they have responded to them. The responses of firms differ. They include diversification of trade partners and refocusing on domestic markets and suppliers. The paper looks at the differences between firms that help to explain these different reactions. It finds that younger, larger, more productive firms are more likely to respond actively to trade shocks and disruptions, especially through diversification of trade partners. Less productive and less innovative firms, meanwhile, are more likely to be discouraged from direct engagement in international trade.