Reflecting the growing momentum in support of quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) as a key strategy to improve early care and education quality, significant amounts of public dollars have been devoted to their development and implementation. In this brief, the authors report on their investigation of both quality rating and improvement…

The authors of this paper document how federal policy on child care and early education led to a decline in wages and education among staff in early childhood programs. The paper analyzes labor trends for the early care and education workforce over the past 25 years--notably, an overall decrease in educational qualifications, and persistent wage…

Throughout the field of early care and education, it has been generally recognized that the quality of services, and their benefits for young children, are closely intertwined with the qualifications, stability and compensation of the teaching and caregiving workforce. But in the absence of substantial gains in compensation for this profession,…

Since universal preschool for California is still in its early planning phase, most of the details remain to be decided, including the scope and structure of the program, whether or not it will be coordinated by the public schools, where it will be housed, whether it will be full-day or part-day (with or without wrap-around care), the extent to…

With increased discussion of universal preschool in California, and the possibility of increased educational standards for early childhood educators, it has become critically important to assess the capacity of the state's higher education system to meet rising demands for teacher preparation. Thus far, the discussion is moving toward raising the…

This report analyzes emerging workforce issues as California develops a universal preschool system, focusing on service delivery mechanisms, workforce standards for staff qualifications and compensation, and professional development and higher education system capacity. The review covers current conditions, emerging questions, research findings,…

In response to increasing concerns about preparing young children to succeed in the primary grades, many states have increased their investment in prekindergarten programs over the past decade. Noting that increased demand for prekindergarten education coincides with a staffing shortage in the early care and education, this study documented the…

In 1991, a study was conducted to determine the extent to which the stringency of state regulations ensures high quality in child care settings and the extent to which California's child care staffing crisis can be addressed through regulatory changes. To compare child care quality under different licensing standards, the study examined findings…