Reflecting contemporary research and widely held beliefs about how children grow, develop, and learn, this publication describes standards for child development programs for preschool and school-age children. The text is divided into three main sections which discuss background material, program components, and the program quality review process. The first section makes a philosophical statement about child development programs and offers a theoretical framework for children's learning. In the second section, each program component--environment, curriculum and assessment, site personnel, partnerships between parents and site personnel, and administration--is introduced with a brief statement, which is followed by a description of the characteristics of an exemplary program for that component. A reference list and a sample of a completed form reporting findings of an agency self-study are provided for each component. The third section discusses the agency self-study process and the program quality review process. This section emphasizes the importance of self-study and illustrates the steps needed to follow the self-study and quality review processes. An appendix includes an agency self-study worksheet, a form for summarizing findings of an agency self-study, a program self-study report form, a quality review worksheet, a form for reporting the results of a quality review, and a form for describing an agency action plan. (MM)