This paper comments on issues of quality in early child care and education from an international perspective, asserting that questions about how to determine quality are as complex for early childhood programs as for all other professional services. The paper's introduction discusses the world wide trend of expansion in the amount of out-of-home…

Presents four articles on the benefits of multi-age child care settings as being similar to a natural family setting. The workshop titles are: "The Benefits of the Mix" (Katz); "Dealing with Staff and Parent Concerns" (Allison); "Multi-Age at Riverfield Country Day School" (Clark); and "Making Multi-Age Groups Work" (Bergman and Gainer). (LBT)

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…

In three parts, this symposium presentation to the American Montessori Society: (1) comments generally on current perceptions of Montessori education; (2) poses questions about practices in Montessori classrooms that challenge Montessori educators' core beliefs about Montessori education; and (3) discusses the cutting edges of contemporary…

This presentation examines the state of preschool education in developed and developing nations, and discusses how the art-oriented, child-centered approach of the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, may be used to help improve preschool education worldwide. Although the majority of parents in many nations are satisfied with the educational…

Written by members of a consulting team engaged to evaluate a school district's kindergarten program and make recommendations for the future, this report chronicles the district's progress in coming to more fully understand goals and problems related to kindergarten education. Specifically, the report presents the evaluation team's examination of…

This paper is based on a memorandum written to the chairman of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois concerning the author's experiences teaching three undergraduate teacher education courses. The paper describes some of the difficulties and failures of this teaching experience and conveys general impressions…