For early care and education programs to achieve high quality, caregivers and teachers need professional development supports that enhance their actual effectiveness in the settings in which they practice. In this article, the author discusses three areas relevant to increasing the competence of early care and education providers: (a) challenging features of the early education and care workforce, (b) the evidence for a specific focus on teachers' interactions with children in quality assessment and professional development, and (c) a summary of promising results from recent studies of professional development.