Only three out of five children are enrolled in preschool globally, and only one out of five in low-income countries, yet the expansion of preschool education came to a near standstill in 2020. To restart it, we propose a policy instrument called the Preschool Entitlement. It entails the right of every child to 600 hours of quality…

The Sustainable Development Goals highlight the critical importance of pre-primary education and set the broad ambition that by 2030 all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education. Today, the world is facing a learning crisis: While millions of…

Family engagement is essential to high quality services for all children in early childhood care and education. From the beginning of life, families nurture their children and the capacities they will need to be ready for school. The Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework for Early Childhood Systems is a guide to understanding…

This brief summarizes the working paper, "The Science of Neglect: The Persistent Absence of Responsive Care Disrupts the Developing Brain," and explains why neglect, or the absence of responsive, supportive care, can affect the formation of the developing brain, impairing later learning, behavior, and health. The brief also includes…

Few people are willing to admit that senior adults and young children share many common characteristics, including: (1) changes in development; (2) need for companionship; and (3) the desire to be understood. These two groups are connected mostly through direct interaction with middle-aged adults. One very practical way to build a greater sense of…

In late 1999, philanthropist Susie Buffett wanted to make the smartest possible investment to improve public education in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. She and her then-foundation president, Dan Pedersen, spoke with Superintendent John Mackiel regarding how he would choose to use private funds to enhance opportunities for Omaha's 46,000…

This report describes the design and implementation of the three interventions tested in Project Upgrade, one of four experiments conducted as part of the Evaluation of Child Care Subsidy Strategies. The evaluation was a multi-site, multi-year effort to determine whether and how different child care subsidy policies and procedures and quality…

Adaptable to individual student needs and the community, this basic curriculum guide is designed for use in initiating and teaching a high school or adult two-year child-care teacher-aide program in vocational education. Four levels of occupations are covered--babysitter, nursery school facilities aide, nursery school teacher aide, and assistant…

Some procedures, costs, and results of the Pilot Special Events Child Development Programs in Minneapolis and St. Paul in 1971 and 1972 are reviewed. The program was designed to provide an innovative and stimulating experience for the children of parents attending a political conference. A chapter describing equipment needed includes toys for…

Recent years have seen a global endeavor to prioritize early childhood care and education as a foundation for later learning and development, as evidenced by the Global Guidelines for Early Childhood Education and Care in the 21st Century (Association for Childhood Education International/World Organization for Early Childhood, 1999). Such efforts…

On the assumption that there will be a national program of day care for preschool children, the author presents the major issues involved. An attempt is made to bring together some figures on current need and available facilities, to examine policy considerations in the implementation of programs, to present some difficulties in providing adequate…

This report is a description of experiences in the state of Wisconsin over the past four years in laying the foundation for testing the feasibility of the child advocacy concept. This experience with statewide child advocacy planning identified a number of critical issues. There was found to be a general lack of awareness, misunderstanding,…

This guidebook is designed for use in teaching students enrolled in secondary pre-employment laboratory education (PELE) child care programs. The first of two major sections includes an overview for teachers in planning, conducting, and evaluating a child care program. Specific topics discussed in section 1 include (1) the school-operated center,…

This handbook provides both general and specific information on child development and child care to help adults who are providing child care in their homes. Information is presented in six sections which describe: (1) the family day care system, the occupation of caregiver, and the development of relationships; (2) development of a health program,…

A national indifference to children is indicated by the system of foster child care and by the treatment of mental retardates. Another manifestation is the attack on Head Start. Criticism based on the program's failure to raise standardized intelligence or aptitude scores is misplaced. Head Start is a broad developmental program having many…