Compared the use of color in physical design features associated with the exterior and interior designs of 101 child care centers in Alabama. Found that color was evidenced on the exterior of the centers at just over half of the sample. The interior environments had warm colors and bright accents in the setting; however, the majority of centers…

Maintains that the winter months are an ideal time to review and refine a child care center's marketing program. Highlights the following target areas for review: (1) marketing plan; (2) action plan; (3) center or company identity package; (4) center brochure; (5) photos; (6) web site; (7) advertisements; (8) publicity; (9) voice mail message;…

Distinguishes between training and coaching, asserting that the latter focuses on the staff person as learner. Offers strategies for staff development: clarify when one is supervising versus coaching, identify issues before developing strategies, ask questions that spring from genuine curiosity, offer detailed descriptions of teacher actions,…

Compared parental knowledge of structural and procedural characteristics of their daycare facilities with data provided by center directors. Found that parents answered only 45% of questions correctly and reported a lack of knowledge regarding both general center characteristics and specific group characteristics. Found that parental knowledge…

To better prepare students for kindergarten, the Lafayette County School District in Oxford, Mississippi, provided cost-effective professional development seminars to local day-care workers. Three-day seminars several times a summer for 3 years were offered to all day-care workers and preschool teachers in the county including Head Start staff,…

Research shows that stability is one component of quality child care. We investigate the understudied phenomenon of the stability of child-care facilities over time, focusing on the province of British Columbia, Canada. Although net figures show growth in the number of providers between 1997 and 2001, they obfuscate a dramatic level of closure…

An observational study was conducted to examine teachers' emotional socialization strategies in three child care centers. Qualitative analysis of the data suggests that teachers in child care centers respond to children's emotional expressions with various strategies. Teachers clearly expressed a preference for positive emotion through verbal…

Discusses strategies for training responsive day care staff focused on the details of class activities and individual child development. Suggests that day care center directors model narrating the details of classroom observations, researching children's use of the environment, involving children in noticing details, and strengthening…

Given the explosion in growth of out-of-the-home child care, increasing attention is being focused on the developmental consequences of early childhood environments. The authors show that the ratio of children to the number of activity areas in the classroom is positively correlated with off-task time. There is also a marginal, negative…

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…

Researchers conducted focus groups in three Minnesota Head Start programs that provide full-day services. The purpose of this descriptive study was to understand how these programs operated, the strengths and challenges of full-day Head Start programs, and how working parents and those on public assistance described these services. Findings…

Unpleasant as it sounds, how providers care for the business aspects of child care can be as vital as how children are cared for. When your business runs smoothly it allows staff to focus on the most important task of all -- providing the best care for children. "The Business of Child Care" supplies guidance for successfully completing the…

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,…

In this overview of preschool education in Germany the history of the kindergarten is tracked from 1802 to the present. Different types of pre-primary institutions (creches, kindergartens) are described; statistical data from December 2002 are presented. The article also deals with curriculum development and staff training. It presents the numbers…

This brief is based on the 61-page report of the same name. This paper, commissioned by the Brookings Institution, studies the emergence of the mixed delivery model, in which pre-kindergarten is delivered in community-based settings and schools. It describes findings of a state survey CLASP conducted to understand the policy choices,…