In the zeal to promote much-needed governmental funding of infant day care, there is tendency to glamorize alternative care-giving arrangements. In most cases, the quality of infant care will be optimized when delivered at home by mature, competent parents or parent surrogates. These benefits should not be devalued to bolster the cause of infant…

Examines the changes and challenges accompanying increased attention to early childhood education during the past several years. Interest has been piqued by the first national educational goal (readiness), big business concerns, and professionals' reexamination of the field. The authors in this special "Kappan" section examine issues…

Despite obvious need, a strong, empirically based rationale, and a growing political will, the promised new era in childcare and early education has faced complex challenges. This article discusses inequity, discontinuity, and fragmentation in providing these services and explores some ameliorative strategies within a new policy context. Includes…

This paper declares war against the miseducation of young children, who learn best through direct encounters rather than through formalized inculcation of symbolic rules. A variety of socioeconomic forces (including the civil rights and women's movements) are forcing preschoolers into learning environments originally designed for school-age…