High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) programmes can strengthen the social, emotional and cognitive skills that are crucial for future learning and wellbeing. Teacher-child interactions are the most vital component of ECEC service quality in terms of children's social-emotional functioning. However, many children are not…

The present study was conducted to find out preschool teachers' and principals' opinions on the problems of the Turkish education system as well as their opinions on potential solutions. The sample of the study was preschool teachers' and principals' from Alanya, a district of the province of Antalya, Turkey. In the study group, there were 89…

Head Start teachers and their classrooms (N = 86) were observed to determine the state of quality of the early literacy and language instruction and environments in prekindergarten. Cluster analysis was used to create profiles of prekindergarten teacher and classroom quality across two constructs: Book Supports and Writing Supports. Descriptive…

Experts have heralded domain-specific play-based curricula coupled with regular coaching and training as our "strongest hope" for improving instructional quality in large-scale public preschool programs. Yet, details from different evaluations of the strongest hope model are not systematically compiled, making it difficult to identify…

This study investigates teachers' beliefs about early visual arts education and implementation in kindergartens through an exploratory study involving 33 teachers in one whole- and one half-day kindergarten. Six classrooms were observed with their teachers participating in subsequent semistructured interviews. Although surveyed teachers reported…

Commonly regulated structural quality features, like educator education levels and group size, are thought to be foundational to the quality of children's everyday experiences in early education and care settings. Yet little is known about how these features relate to the day-to-day interactions and activities that occur in these settings--or…

This article explores how three early childhood teachers working in grant-funded preschools within a public school context construct and negotiate their professional identities. Teachers share narratives that contribute to an understanding of how their beliefs, knowledge, and practice are marginalized by the context in which they work. The…

California's child early care and education (ECE) system is underfunded, and California policymakers have not been willing to acknowledge the true cost of creating a comprehensive ECE system. Proposals for ECE reform have focused primarily on improving access and affordability for families but have ignored the elephant in the room: Early care and…

Over the last few decades, research has consistently shown that process quality in child care centers and family child care varies substantially, but is mostly at a mediocre level. Based on the NUBBEK sample (National Study on Education, Learning and Upbringing in Early Childhood), an expanded model of process quality tests the influence of…

The COVID-19 crisis has been a nearly unprecedented disruption to American education at all levels. Disruptions to early childhood learning have also been widespread. Public pre-K programs attended by 1.6 million children nationwide were closed to help stop the community spread of COVID-19. Roughly one-third of children under age five typically…

Early Head Start provides a comprehensive array of services for low-income pregnant women and families with infants and toddlers. The Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (Baby FACES) 2018 provides a wealth of information about Early Head Start programs, center-based or home-based services, teachers and home visitors, and the…

The Commonwealth has the second most expensive child care market in the United States. Families routinely pay upwards of $20,000 a year for care for their young children. However child care workers make very low wages and are leaving the workforce in droves because they can make more at other jobs. Child care providers are struggling to keep their…

The most recent version of the Build Back Better (BBB) Act includes historic investments in child care and preschool totaling $390 billion. These investments create a child care entitlement for most children from birth through age five and universal pre-kindergarten for three- and four-year-olds, which would provide significant increases to access…

This paper focuses on the growing immigrant-born population of early childhood education and care (ECEC) workers in the Northern Territory of Australia, who represent a committed but poorly understood group within this workforce. The recent reforms to the ECEC workforce in Australia aim to achieve high-quality ECEC services by (a) growing this…

Overcoming challenges to quality early education in developing nations, TEACH Rwanda, one high-performing education system, offers a model of childhood learning through sensitive teacher dispositions, child-centred play, and culturally relevant materials. This manuscript provides a unique window into the practices of a quality early childhood…