Wisconsin's Early Childhood Excellence Initiative was a $15 million public policy effort designed in 2000 to increase child care quality for low-income children. An evaluation revealed significant improvement in classroom quality, the quality of caregiver interaction, and caregivers' beliefs about children following a complex multi-faceted…

Measures of quality are now in widespread use across states as part of quality improvement initiatives. For example, many states are currently using global measures of quality that were first developed for research and practice purposes (such as the Environmental Rating Scales) in their Quality Rating Systems (QRSs). Although global quality…

Previous research has demonstrated that attending center care is associated with cognitive benefits for young children. However, little is known about the ideal age for children to enter such care or the "right" amount of time, both weekly and yearly, for children to attend center programs. Using national data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal…

The purpose of this study was to gather baseline information on the wages, benefits, length of employment and education levels of Arizona's early childhood education workforce. The study attempted to collect data from all early education employers, excluding home-based businesses, that are licensed by the Arizona State Department of Health…

The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Psycho-educational Profile-Revised (PEP-R). The Chinese PEP-R (CPEP-R) was administered to 63 preschool children with symptoms of autistic disorder recruited from special child-care centers in Hong Kong. Results showed that the scales of the CPEP-R…

Perceptions of childcare center directors in for-profit and non-profit childcare centers were examined. Previous research indicates that childcare employees are poorly compensated, not properly trained, and dissatisfied with their work environment. This study explores further into the training, work environment, and job satisfactions of childcare…

This paper presents the main results of a comparative study carried out by a French-Japanese research team. Its focus is the daily life of under-ones in day care centres in two cultural contexts--France and Japan. Based on three kinds of data--official texts, videotaped observations and caregivers' discourses--the study highlights the links…

The psychometric properties of the Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) (Bricker & Squires, 1999) used in a French-Canadian preschool population were compared with psychometric data derived from U.S. normative studies. The ASQ was translated into French (Bonin, Robaey, Vandaele, Bastin, & Lacroix, 2000) and used in four early childhood…

The early childhood education field has been slow to take up the challenge of sustainability. However, Brisbane's Campus Kindergarten is one early education centre that is making serious efforts in this regard. In 1997, Campus Kindergarten initiated its "Sustainable Planet Project" involving a variety of curriculum and pedagogical…

This report describes the impact of nurse consultant services to child care programs in Colorado on the children, parents, and staff of the centers they serve as part of the Healthy Child Care Colorado (HCCC) initiative. Study participants included 25 child care center directors and 24 nurse consultants, representing large and small centers in…

A key characteristic of debates on caring for children has been the distinction made between the public and the private or formal and informal sector of care. In particular, the impact on adult relationships of the material, emotional and moral dimensions of this division has been highlighted. What are the implications for children, however, of…

Policymakers and researchers have focused attention on the significant role that directors play in building and sustaining high-quality child care programs. However, there has been limited focus on director turnover and its implications for programs. This article summarizes findings from the longitudinal study, "Then and Now: Changes in Child Care…

This 4-year longitudinal study compared characteristics of different day care contexts and the home environment of young children in Turkey and their effects on child outcomes. Findings indicated that custodial and educational day care differed in quality. Short- and long-term child outcomes suggested that educational settings supported child…

Drawing on Foucault's tools on subjectivity, the positions offered to Sarah in an early childhood centre and new entrant school classroom are examined. This paper draws on data from interviews with Sarah, her mother, and her teachers, which problematise the discursive meanings for Sarah's continuing educational experiences and her sense of…

Early Head Start services are typically offered through home- or center-based delivery models. A formative evaluation of an example of each service delivery model was conducted. The purpose was to examine the issues involved in the implementation of these two service delivery models relative to the content of services, intensity of services,…