Several reports on the link between the economy and the quality of child care indicate that: (1) early care and education benefits two generations of workers; (2) quality is essential to, but is rarely found in, early care and education programs; and (3) the key to quality is the professional development of practitioners. A vision of dynamic…

The Families Matter series of papers from the Harvard Family Research Project advances the concept of family-centered child care, advocating an approach to early childhood education that addresses the development of the child and family together. Grounded in family support principles, which build on family strengths and work from a community's…

Models of state involvement in training child care providers are briefly discussed and the employers' role in training is explored. Six criteria for states that are taken as models are identified, and four are described. Various state activities are described for each criterion. It is noted that little is known about employer and other private…