Noting that the quality of services provided to young children and their families depends on the quality, consistency, and accessibility of professional preparation programs in early childhood, this book articulates the early childhood field's agreed-upon standards for the preparation of early childhood professionals. Section 1 of the book…

This guide details the core competencies for early care and education professionals in Kansas and Missouri. The guide's introduction provides background information about what core competencies are, why they are important, and how they can be used by practitioners, directors, trainers, higher education faculty, agencies, and professional…

Noting that the continuing need for services that support families is often met by home visiting, this guidebook compiles personal stories, relevant research, and practical strategies to allow social workers, educators, and other early childhood professionals as well as those who train home visitors to better understand the complex nature of this…

Discusses the reasons for mediocre child care programs and how programs could be improved by examining the relationship between high quality care for children and the organizational climate for adults. Shows how research findings are often not put into practice. Outlines Model Work Standards, standards that have the potential to improve programs…

During the past 40 years, the rapid pace and complex nature of social change has created a stress-filled environment for families. New challenges such as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), drug abuse, increasing crime, economic malaise, moral deterioration, and increases in mental health problems contribute to the increasing stress in…

As part of efforts to improve school readiness by enhancing the quality of early childhood education, the state of Maryland developed standards for the use of staff in center-based child care and Head Start programs to mirror the standards in place for public school prekindergarten programs as well as a state accreditation process for center-based…

In response to the growing need for addressing continuity in children's learning at transition points, this package of staff development materials was developed to provide support, guidance, and contexts for discussion enabling early years and primary school staff in Scotland to reflect and share information about effective assessment and…

Preschool and kindergarten teachers have the responsibility of supporting children as they learn and develop. This guide is designed to help North Carolina preschool and kindergarten teachers and administrators establish and maintain high quality programs, frame the broad issues regarding early childhood curriculum and instruction, describe major…

This guide is designed for early childhood educators who are helping their staffs implement the Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood, a curriculum that is based on child development theory and is developmentally appropriate for preschool and kindergarten children. A carefully organized and rich environment serves as the focus of this…

Developmental continuity refers to designing early childhood instruction that provides learning experiences based on children's prior knowledge, follows a natural progression across preschool and the early grades, and allows progress at each child's rate and style of learning. There are many ways of providing developmental continuity, but common…

Recognizing the value and need for quality early childhood education programs for children ages four through eight years, the Michigan State Board of Education appointed an ad hoc committee to develop standards of quality. Based on the draft developed by this committee, this standards guide is designed to assist administrators, teachers, and…

This booklet is designed to offer preschool staff who are working with children with special needs a process for supporting children and families through the transition to kindergarten. It begins by discussing the teachers role as a partner to parents of children with disabilities. A timeline is then presented for planning a child's transition to…

This set of training videotapes teaches the key points of the "Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs--Revised Edition." The videos present more than 3 hours of programming produced in short stand- alone programs ranging in length from 3 to 20 minutes. The videos are designed to be used in a variety of ways to stimulate…

This training package helps Florida educators working with substance-exposed children in day care programs and prekindergarten, kindergarten, and elementary school classrooms. The workbook was developed to be used within a 1- or 2-day training session facilitated by trainers or as a self-instruction learning tool used in conjunction with a…

This digest explores the question, What types of activities and experiences should a good learning environment offer to the young child to help him grow normally and happily? Part 1 focuses on basic considerations in the development of early childhood care and education (ECCE) curricula. Four chapters concern: (1) the learning needs of the young…