This report of the Detroit Public Schools compiles data analysis of prekindergarten children's entry level skills, a 1-month follow-up assessment, and an end-of-the-year skills evaluation. The report contains information on the growth and development of 3- and 4-year-old prekindergarten students in the Michigan School Readiness Program and Head…

Intended for use by childcare center directors, this guide presents the Quick Quality Check, a practical method for measuring and improving the quality of care in infant/toddler classrooms. The four chapters of the guide discuss the specifics of the Quick Quality Check method for both infants and toddlers, including the instrument development, as…

This guide presents a curriculum that integrates development of emergent literacy skills with computer technology in young children, including those with disabilities. The curriculum was tested over a 3-year period in preschool classrooms that included children with mild to severe disabilities. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation results are…

Despite the success of Sesame Street," this highly acclaimed television program for preschoolers still struggles to reach its prime target--the children of the poor. (DM)

A comprehensive birth-to-kindergarten program was evaluated by classroom observations and teacher ratings of 132 participant children and 366 comparison children during fall and spring of the kindergarten year. Adjusting for possible effects of children's background characteristics, advantages for participants over comparison children were…

The practice of mainstreaming preschool children is critically analyzed by examining the nature of the federal policy that has resulted in mainstreaming and the status of implementing the goals and objectives that the policy seeks to address. (PN)

The importance of evaluation in early childhood interventions of infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities is discussed. Eight questions guiding the evaluation process are presented, focusing on intervention expectations, purposes of intervention, personalization of intervention, and specification of anticipated outcomes, among others.…

Describes the use of the Context Input Process and Product (CIPP) model to evaluate a suburban school district pre-kindergarten program during its first year of operation. Discusses the CIPP components, methodology, and outcomes. (FMW)

Contingent valuation (CV) is used to obtain more complete estimates of the economic value of benefits of preschool education for handicapped children. A general approach for use of CV in cost-benefit analysis of educational programs and use of the CV interview with 80 parents of handicapped preschoolers are described. (SLD)

Principles of program evaluation and strategic planning are discussed and applied to a case example of the Anne Arundel County (Maryland) Infants and Toddlers Program. This program contended with issues of increased referrals and enrollment, evolution from a child-centered to a family-centered paradigm, and change to community-based provision and…

Discusses issues involved in the assessment of community nurseries providing integrated education, health, and social services in the Strathclyde region of Scotland. Describes a quality assessment that found that quality varied over time and between institutions, although all showed improvements by the third and final rating. (MDM)

Compared the progress made by children in regard to social and emotional behavior problems in community nurseries providing integrated education, health, and social services and in traditional nursery schools in the Strathclyde region of Scotland. Found that progress made by most children in community nurseries was similar to that made by children…

This paper outlines a set of "best practice" criteria for designing and evaluating early intervention programs for special needs infants and toddlers, from an international perspective. The paper recommends that early intervention programs be based on six principal values: community coherence, cultural sensitivity, right to services, family…

Briefly describes the national Head Start Teaching Center model, the implementation of this model in the New England region, the outcome evaluation plan, and results from the first year of training. Finds that training significantly increased trainees' knowledge, skills, and expertise. (EV)