Access to early childhood education has increased over the last two decades, with global enrolment rates showing gender parity in access among boys and girls. Despite this gender parity in access, the pre-primary education system does not always deliver on its potential to tackle gender inequities and address harmful gender stereotypes while they…

Accepting that building a substantial preschool workforce can accelerate a nation's transition to a knowledge society, China's policy makers in 2010 announced that the size, qualifications and remuneration of the preschool teacher workforce would increase significantly by 2020. A body of literature has reported that the implementation of this…

In 2021, California made major new investments to advance its commitment to early childhood education through universal preschool. One important investment was extending state funding for transitional kindergarten (TK), previously just for older 4-year-olds, to all 4-year-olds by 2025-26. To ensure the quality of new preschool investments,…

A qualified and dedicated early care and education (ECE) professional workforce is essential for the well-being of our youngest children. Despite the importance of ECE professionals, the field continues to experience challenges recruiting and retaining individuals in the workforce, often due to high expectations for early care with inadequate…

Two-generation human capital programs seek to promote the education of parents and children simultaneously. This study examines relations between family participation in Career"Advance," which recruits parents of Head Start children into a workforce training program, and children's Head Start attendance. The sample included 293 children…

During the 14th Five-Year Plan, preschool education in China will move toward the objectives of quality and balance, and the kindergarten teacher workforce must be formed with sufficient quantity, high quality, and balanced distribution. At present, the scale of China's current kindergarten teacher workforce still does not meet the standards for…

In 2021, California committed to providing universal prekindergarten (UPK) for all 4-year-olds and expanding access for income-eligible 3-year-olds by 2025-2026. California UPK includes several early learning programs, including transitional kindergarten (TK), the California State Preschool Program (CSPP), Head Start, and locally funded early…

Exclusionary discipline practices differentially harm young children of color. As early childhood education systems seek to close these gaps to ensure all young children have access to high quality early learning experiences, the field requires more evidence-based approaches that can be scaled and replicated. Infant and early childhood mental…

According to previous research, the leadership in early childhood education (ECE) needs to be strengthened and improved by building sustainable structures. The aim of the current research was to investigate how ECE professionals evaluate its leadership. The context of the study was a development project called Sustainable leadership in ECE…

The early childhood years are pivotal as they mark the beginning of a young child's life journey into education. This paper offers critical reflections of the early childhood care and education landscape in Singapore as it has evolved over the last decade. The discussion will draw on findings of the study "Vital Voices for Vital Years 2"…

When it comes to the early childhood workforce, American educators and advocates may know what their state's policies are. With their expertise and knowledge, and with support from research and leading organizations, they may be able to define what they want their state's policies to be, particularly for teachers of children from birth through age…

The purpose of this article is to explore the complex interrelations between educators' work environments and their experiences as an entryway for thinking differently about workforce stability and sustainability. Concepts of macro- and micropolitics (drawn from the work of Deleuze and Guattari) are used to explore one educator's experiences in…

Research Findings: Aiming to raise the quality of early childhood teachers and caregivers and to reduce turnover, government and professional associations are pursuing 2 intervention strategies. The 1st mandates higher credential levels, as seen with Head Start and state preschool reforms. Here we examine the efficacy of the 2nd strategy: offering…

As supervisors of preschool teachers, childcare center directors are well-situated to mentor their staff to pursue higher education. Telephone interviews with 78 directors examined their role as mentors in encouraging preschool teachers to take college classes. Educational mentoring was shown to be distinct from career mentoring. Logistic…

In an effort to inform preschool policy in California, an interdisciplinary team of RAND researchers conducted a multiyear study of preschool education known as the California Preschool Study. One of the recommendations from that study was the need for a more in-depth analysis of the effectiveness of the early care and education (ECE) workforce…