This article details the findings from a qualitative study that explored the ways individuals who work with early childhood education (ECE) practitioners in professional development settings influenced those practitioners' understandings of early childhood policy and early childhood systems. Defined as individuals who work in the professional…

State policymakers are increasingly focused on closing the achievement gap and preparing all students to succeed in school and life. However, college and career readiness begins long before students enter high school or even a classroom. Differences in children's abilities appear as early as the first year of life, and research has shown that…

Using multiple years of data collected from about 100 child care centers in Palm Beach County, Florida, the authors studied whether the Quality Improvement System (QIS) made a significant impact on quality of child care centers. Based on a pre- and postresearch design spanning a period of 13 months, QIS appeared to be effective in improving…

Recent efforts to improve K-12 educational outcomes have had mixed success. One possible reason is that many students entering kindergarten lack the basic skills to succeed in school. In 2007, with support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Hawai'i launched its P-3 (preschool through third-grade) initiative, the early childhood component of the…

Those identified with high quality child care, early education, and family support (ECE) are experiencing new trends that are interacting with old problems. This article summarizes the old problems and new trends faced by ECE. The author wants to define their role in the emerging system and influence policies that will affect it. This article also…

Reply by the current author to the comments made by R. A. McWilliam, R. N. Roberts and Andy Gomm on the original article. All three commentaries are addressing a common theme that service coordination is not receiving the attention it deserves by state and local early intervention systems and programs. The responses contain a number of key points…

Over the past decade, investing in learning programs for young children has emerged as a central strategy in states' efforts to improve educational achievement and opportunity. This trend has been fueled by strong public support and a steady stream of research findings on the influence of the first few years of life on cognitive and emotional…

Currently across the country there is an unprecedented interest in developing plans to improve and coordinate early childhood services in order to achieve an effective early care and education system. In the last few years system-planning initiatives have been sponsored and supported by federal, state, county and city governments as well as…

In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 10, the California Children and Families First Act, which provides for an excise tax on tobacco products to fund parent education, health and child care programs that promote early childhood development for 0-5s. Since the adoption of its first Strategic Plan (2000), the Orange County First 5…