Discusses maternal, therapeutic and instructional teacher role models and effects of teaching styles on preschool children. Suggests need for preschool educators to be more sensitive to parents' goals, which may be more instructional and control oriented than the teacher's. (NH)

This digest considers quality in early childhood programs from four perspectives. The top-down perspective, or adults' perspective, on program quality takes into account such program characteristics as adult-child ratio, staff qualifications, and health and hygiene procedures. The bottom-up perspective, or the children's perspective, hinges on…

Parents and teachers share responsibility for creating a working relationship that fosters children's learning. This digest examines the cultural context for parent-teacher relationships, suggests some general strategies for creating a climate in which misunderstandings and disagreements between parents and teachers can be minimized through…

This paper discusses several types of ethical problems encountered by day care and preschool workers, and suggests guidelines for developing a code of ethics for early childhood practitioners. Topics dicussed include the meaning of a code of ethics; the need for such a code for early childhood practitioners; examples of ethical problems involving…

Examines reasons for the differing perceptions of teachers and parents about the quality of early childhood programs. Suggests focusing energy on the daily quality of work with children because, when teachers provide quality experiences, parents notice and are more likely to express their support in the policy and political arena where early…

This booklet contains two essays on ethics for early childhood educators. The first essay discusses the meaning of a code of ethics, the importance of a code of ethics for working with preschool children, ethical conflicts in day care and preschool work, and steps which may be taken to help early childhood workers resolve these conflicts. Ethical…

This paper addresses multiple perspectives on the quality of early childhood care and education, including lessons learned from programs in various countries, the implications of these perspectives, and recommendations for the improvement of early childhood provision. It also examines the ideas expressed in the 1994 "Start Right" report on early…

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the ideas and proposals in 10 papers commissioned by the National Center for Education Statistics to identify issues in early childhood education which have major relevance to public policy. Part I offers a brief overview of the context in which the issues were raised, focusing on current trends,…