When the Model Work Standards were first crafted more than two decades ago, they were built on the premise that quality child care jobs are the cornerstone of high-quality services for children and families. The intent of these standards is to make it possible for those who choose teaching young children as a career to reasonably and responsibly…

This article describes activities that can be used with multiple audiences of teachers, administrators, or other caregivers regarding setting boundaries in personal relationships with students. First, participants must think about and discuss relationships that they experienced with their own teachers in the past and determine what aspects of…

This workshop discussion paper addresses the issue of professionalism in school-age care. After explaining that "professionalism" means different things to different people and offering a brief history of professionalism, the paper provides a working definition of a professional: Someone who operates out of a theory base, someone who not…

In order to successfully implement an early childhood career development system, it is necessary to coordinate funds and training opportunities from many different sources. This action pack is designed to help individuals involved in such statewide efforts learn how to navigate the financing system that currently supports training for early care…

Introduces refocus of "Beginnings Workshop" section to help administrators bring ideas, strategies, resources, and suggestions to their child care and early education professionals. Identifies four goals of the workshop: honor the mission of supporting directors in creating successful child care environments; reach more teachers; support directors…

The Creative Curriculum for preschool education is a teaching framework that addresses children's emotional, cognitive, and physical development. This checklist is designed for use in assessing how well the curriculum is being implemented as intended and includes a classroom profile form and a progress and planning form. The implementation…

This publication aims to help infant/toddler caregivers and directors of infant/toddler programs by outlining the goals and skills needed to work with children during their first three years. The work is divided into two complementary sections, one for directors and one for caregivers. Section I defines the roles of directors of infant and toddler…

Noting that teachers and caregivers need an understanding of the fundamentals of developmentally appropriate practices in order to implement programs that meet the needs of young children, this guide serves as a practical tool for staff trainers and supervisors in early childhood education. It addresses four specific groups of early childhood…

This guide is a comprehensive manual for administrators who manage child care facilities. The guide provides practical help with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of programs for young children and helping directors and teachers be more effective in their work. The chapters are: (1) "Qualities and Characteristics of an Effective…

This document is comprised of the one issue in volume 7 of "Bridges," a publication produced by the California Head Start-State Collaboration Office to detail the activities of the educational partnership and to provide relevant information to programs participating in the partnership. The Summer 2002 issue focuses on several topics of…

As public schools collaborate with the Head Start and child care communities to improve the quality of early childhood education and care, practitioners working with young children need guidance and support in implementing best practices in early learning. This manual provides guidance to teachers engaged in improving their programs in concert…