The Early ON School Readiness Project is an emerging community-based model aimed at promoting the school readiness of 3- to 5-year-old children in a metropolitan area with a predominantly Latino (Mexican-American) population. Using an ecological approach, the multi-component program seeks to enhance school readiness opportunities for children at…

This policy brief examines who is taking care of preschoolers of employed mothers in rural America. While most rural families choose home-based child care (such as relatives or informal nonrelated care providers), formal care (such as in day care centers) has positive benefits to a child's development. The brief recommends that programs are needed…

Urges child care programs to seek accreditation from NAEYC's National Academy of Early Childhood Programs to increase program quality and provides information on the validation process. Includes information on the validation visit and the validator's role and background. Offers suggestions for preparing the director, staff, children, and families…

This paper reports on the design, methodology, and results of a study of quality in 326 classrooms in 239 Canadian child care centers. This study, the largest and most extensive ever undertaken in Canada, used the Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS) to rate the adult-child interactions in the classrooms and the Infant-Toddler Environment Rating…

Contends that child care facility owners, boards of directors, staff, and parents need to focus on financial management, as poor financial health compromises the quality of care for children. Specifically addresses the issues of: (1) concern for providing high quality child care; (2) the connection between quality and money; and (3) strengthening…

China's education system has grown increasingly complex, creating the need for an annual critical review of the education system by China's top scholars. The "Blue Book of Education," as it is known in Chinese, has gained a reputation for offering the most penetrating perspective in China on educational reform and development. In this…

By the time they enter kindergarten, many low-income children are already behind their peers from more advantaged backgrounds. During early childhood, low-income children face a number of risk factors that threaten healthy development and learning, including low birth weight, stunted growth, obesity, and lead poisoning--all of which are associated…

Serving as a vehicle for raising the profile of and thereby gaining recognition for the important research and development work being conducted in Canada in support of children and families, the "Research Connections Canada" series compiles research and/or development papers as well as background papers, analytical literature reviews,…

Discusses steps to building an administrative infrastructure to support high-quality child care, in particular the development of a comprehensive evaluation plan around which measurable objectives can later be assessed against performance. Describes background information needed, situational analysis, collecting current program information, and…

There has been minimal Australian research focused on leadership and management aspects of directors' work in centre-based child care to date. In Australia, practices in early education have been drawn largely from studies in other cultural contexts, particularly research undertaken in the United States. It is timely that Australian research…

More states are recognizing that preschool is a vital first step toward helping children succeed in school. Ensuring that preschoolers have a high quality early learning experience provides them with the skills they need for later school success. In New Jersey, the poorest school districts have been collaborating with community-based child care…

In 2001, the authors assessed the quality of care provided to children in 51 care groups from 39 child-care centers in The Netherlands using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale (T. Harms, D. Cryer, & R. M. Clifford, 1990) and compared the results with the quality of child care assessed in 1995 (M. H. van IJzendoorn, L. W. C. Tavecchio,…

As part of Louisiana's efforts to expand and improve the quality of its early childhood programs, a committee of educators from across the state collaborated to develop standards for programs serving 4-year-olds. This guide presents program standards to assist the ongoing development, evaluation, and improvement of early childhood center-based…

Demand for childcare services in Malaysia is increasing. With the changing demographic landscape and increasing knowledge of the importance of early childhood education, provision of alternative childcare services has never been more significant. Children younger than four years of age are placed in registered childcare centres while their parents…

Forty-eight toddlers aged 17 to 31 months attending long-day childcare participated in this project, which examined some of the influences of the day-care context on their emerging pretend play. Ninety minutes of video-taped observations were collected for each participant as they engaged in free play with their same-age peers and their…