Presents two strategies for improving the quality of child care through staff development: (1) identifying areas of staff expertise and cultivating mentoring relationships; and (2) developing collaborative community initiatives. Includes brief descriptions of these strategies in use in particular child care programs. Makes suggestions for…

Barbara Pickney directs 12 Head Start Programs for St. Landry Parish and is the president of the Louisiana Head Start Association. The story of her career with Head Start is related. Peer review training is credited for the growth and professional development of her staff. (GB)

Suggests that the director is key to the quality of an early-childhood organization. Updates promising developments in leadership training. Notes that 12 states, two national organizations, and 17 foundations have launched credentialing initiatives for child-care-center directors. Highlights several national organizations that provide development…

Suggests ways to improve administration leadership skills such as writing a letter of appreciation to the person "who gave one a break"; what to do if one is a "workaholic"; getting the most out of seminars; effective telephone communications; living a healthy lifestyle; effective time management; and preventing…

Emphasizes the importance of the planning and the process of organizing staff meetings. Specifically addresses the areas concerning clarity of purpose and structure of meetings, as well as promoting learning and connecting during meetings. Provides specific strategies to achieve these goals including suggestions for self-assessment. (SD)

Presents an inventive approach to professional development in early childhood education and care settings. Focuses on how early childhood programs shape the stories of individual children, the importance of planning physical environments to shape stories and remembering the power of the social-emotional environment, and the need to include…

Advises directors of ways to include day care workers in the decision-making process. Enumerates benefits of using staff to help focus and direct changes in the day care center and discusses possible pitfalls in implementation of a collective decision-making approach to management. (NH)

Provides day care center directors with relevant ideas for working with staff. Ideas include building "team spirit" among staff members; effective listening; gaining respect from staff members through effective decision-making skills; recognizing and correcting administrative errors; and effective group management techniques. (Author/BB)

Discusses the use of videotapes of child care teachers in classrooms as a tool to provide feedback on teaching techniques. Points out benefits of and concerns about the use of videotape and gives guidelines for effective feedback. Lists various videotape hardware packages. (NH)

Notes that the environment in early childhood should be educational for students and their teachers. Stresses the need for improved staff-development opportunities. These sessions should mirror the caregivers' realities in who they are and how they see the world. Suggests that a way of seeing and respecting the lives of others should be offered…

Reviews videos for early childhood programs that focus on staff training, child care selection, building children's self-esteem, farm animals, and children's books by Judith Viorst and Robert McCloskey. (HOD)

Describes the collaboration between two large multi-site child care and education facilities in Hawaii that belong to the six-member Childcare Business Coalition. Includes suggestions from the coalition to contribute to discussion on policy and child-care business issues, to advocate for families, and to obtain grants for staff training. (KB)

Presents child-care directors' opinions regarding influences on their thinking about staff development. Suggests strategies for keeping professional-development efforts on track, such as using the questions emerging from working with children as a basis for learning, incorporating time and systems for thinking about learning, forming a book/study…

Details steps to make day care staff training well-targeted, creative, and useful. The steps are: identify training needs, select training topic and define the target audience, define training goals, select methods of presentation and activities, provide good training resources for future use, evaluate training, and infuse the training with…

Describes the change strategies involved in moving a mediocre child care program onto the road to excellence. Highlights strategies focusing on changing staff perceptions of themselves and their practices with families, obtaining honest observations of staff, visiting other programs for inservice training, examining educational practices in terms…