An individual professional development plan (IPDP) is a document early childhood educators create, review regularly, and update as needed to guide their future professional development. The plan includes personal and professional goals guided by professional standards and strategies for meeting them. Educators learn and grow continuously by…

Reviews research on three issues related to the first edition of the developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) guidelines of the National Association for the Education of Young Children: (1) the prevalence of DAP; (2) teachers and parents beliefs about DAP and influence of beliefs on practice; and (3) how appropriate and inappropriate practice…

Discusses mentoring as a professional development strategy to meet the needs of experienced and novice practitioners. Defines mentoring and differentiates it from supervision. Discusses the following aspects of early childhood mentoring programs: (1) goals and assumptions; (2) design and structure, including mentor qualifications and training; (3)…

Presents a brief discussion of several current theoretical and methodological trends in early childhood education, which include: (1) child development perspectives; (2) the purpose of early education; (3) the educational responsibilities of parents and teachers; (4) program evaluation; and (5) the challenges and future direction of early…

Describes an assessment process and its use in planning early childhood programs. Information from parents and from observations of children was used to develop a comprehensive assessment of each child. The assessment was used to note the needs and interests of the children and extend their learning experiences. (SH)

Provides a historical review of ten years of Project Follow Through. Discussed are the origin of Follow Through, quantitative and cross-model evaluations, and future concerns. (CM)

This exploration of family day care was centered in a multiracial, working class area of Pasadena, Calif., and involved 22 licensed and unlicensed women who cared for a total of 143 children. (Author/CB)

This article is an essay review of the book "Project Head Start: A Legacy of the War on Poverty," coedited by Edward Zigler and Jeanette Valentine. (DB)

Discusses the issue of informal versus structured programs for preschool children. Reviews the development of and rationale behind traditional child-centered programs and suggests that more research on informal education is necessary. (BD)

Describes the impact of the Parent Education Model upon school, community, and parents as indicated by ten communities in nine different states. (MP)

Examined the impact of a two-year leadership training program that used a problem-centered and site-specific curriculum for program directors to improve the quality of 14 early childhood programs in the Chicago area and to increase the number of programs receiving accreditation from NAEYC. Found that administrators expanded their repertoire of…

Examines a group of accredited early childhood programs at the time of reaccreditation. Considers the percentage of programs that achieved reaccreditation; changes that took place over a three-year period; the simplification of the reaccreditation process for program staff; and the appropriate length of time for accreditation to be valid. (BB)

Presents a social studies unit on house building for 5- to 7-year olds. Discusses rationale for the project approach and outlines unit components. Describes the three components of the curriculum planning strategy: (1) impression activities; (2) extension activities; and (3) expression activities. Discusses experiences during unit implementation…

Describes the Bringing Out Head Start Talents (BOHST) project, which was designed to modify materials and procedures for training Head Start personnel, parents, and volunteers to identify disabled and low-income gifted children and develop appropriate programs for them. (BB)

Having been involved in undergraduate and graduate student groups on four campuses, the author of this article has noticed certain characteristics commonly found in successful campus groups. These characteristics include: (1) initial and continual planning with community members; (2) active involvement by all stakeholders; and (3) evaluating the…