Family childcare (FCC), one of the most widely used childcare provision, is important to children's short and long-term development. FCC quality is receiving more attention in policy and international studies, although additional literature reviews are needed. This study is a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify relevant literature on…

Supporting parent-child relationships is vital for children's social and emotional development, future health and well-being. As children now spend significant amounts of time attending early childhood education and care settings, it is opportune that interventions be designed for educators to promote and nurture parent-child relationships. The…

The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) conducted a landscape evaluation of early childhood programs in Indiana (IN) between the spring of 2021 and the summer of 2022. Commissioned by Early Learning Indiana (ELI), this study provides Indiana programs and policymakers with research-based information on the quality of a sample of…

This study focused on the social context dimension to elucidate how students of different disciplinary backgrounds--Department of Childcare and Department of Design--share their learning and knowledge in a cooperative course and to evaluate the effectiveness of the integrated course operation. Design-based learning through a project activity…

In this article, we intend to illustrate the notion, practice, and evaluation methods and results related to building an effective, efficient, and equitable early care and education (ECE) system. We point out the dominant approach, in practice and evaluation, of focusing on a single ECE program to improve ECE, propose a model of developing an ECE…

ECEC-based physical activity (PA) interventions have reported modest changes; however, those that are underpinned by theory seem to report more favorable outcomes. To date, no ECEC-based PA interventions have been underpinned by professional development-focused theories, despite professional development being a consistent component in such…

This report presents key findings from the four years of the Quality Support Program (QSP). The QSP is an initiative of, and funded by, the New South Wales (NSW) Department of Education Early Childhood Education Quality Assurance and Regulatory Services Directorate (NSW DoE), involving the delivery by Australian Children's Education and Care…

The purpose of this case study was to investigate a segment of a data set collected as part of a larger ethnographic study exploring the early language and literacy practices of one unique preschool programme, selected for its unusually high outcomes for children in typically underserved populations. The original study explored administrators'…

Research has demonstrated that federal Head Start centers, which provide preschool care to children from low-income families, have little or no long-term academic value for children. This "Backgrounder" adds to the evidence that Head Start has failed to achieve its objectives and should be sunset, not expanded, by demonstrating a…

In 2020, the Foundation for Child Development released "Getting it Right: Using Implementation Research to Improve Outcomes in Early Care and Education." The publication provides insights into the value of including implementation research in the study of early care and education (ECE) and its potential to improve programs and policies…

In this study we investigated the effects of two naturalistic 2- to 4-year-old children's intervention programs aimed at promoting children's Spontaneous Focusing On Numerosity (SFON) and early numerical skills. The study consisted of a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design with a delayed posttest and an active control group participating in…

Specialized preschool programs can enhance the development of vulnerable young children at risk of special educational needs (SEN). Less is known about the potential of early childhood education and care (ECEC) provided for the general population. This study includes 2,857 children attending 141 ECEC centres in England and 310 with no ECEC. ECEC…

The quality of early care and education affects a wide range of children's experiences and developmental outcomes. Family Child Care (FCC) is no exception, and attention to increasing the quality of Family Child Care is needed. The purpose of the current study was to examine an experimental case of intensive Professional Development (PD) in FCC…

Child care has been in a downward spiral for twenty years and is a main factor exacerbating the growing worker shortage. New attention before and financial aid during the pandemic perhaps slowed the spiral, but it hasn't reversed it. The primary cause of the shortage in Greater Minnesota is simple: family child care providers, who supply the bulk…

Licensed family child care (FCC) programs serve millions of children and families annually and tend to serve more vulnerable families than center-based programs. Low-income families, families needing infant and toddler care, and families that are Hispanic or African American are more likely to place their children in FCC programs than in…