Suggests strategies for rethinking the early childhood program environment. Recommends reflecting program values throughout the environment, understanding how different elements influence behavior, and considering the role of schedules, routines, and rituals. Strategies include reinventing assessment tools, identifying the feelings elicited by…

In 2006, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Early Learning Initiative (ELI) to improve the school readiness of Washington State's children through three main strategies: (1) development of high-quality, community-wide early learning initiatives in two communities; (2) enhancement of statewide systems that support early…

In recent years, growing knowledge of the critical importance of early childhood development for lifelong learning and growth had led to increased calls for the professionalism of early childhood educators, including higher standards for their training and education. As part of this attention to professional development, many states are…

This report, released by The California Education Collaborative for Children in Foster Care, calls for a sharper focus on the educational outcomes for children in foster care and offers recommendations for strengthening the policies and systems that support them. The report describes the Collaborative's charge and products, briefly summarizes…

Difficulties in finding, keeping, and ensuring the competence of the direct support workforce in community developmental disability services has long been a challenge for individuals, families, providers, and policy makers. Direct support staff recruitment, retention, and competence are widely reported as one of the most significant barriers to…

This directory summarizes the main features of federal programs that provide money or other economic assistance for child care or the child care profession. For each program, the following information is provided: (1) the program title; (2) a contact person; (3) purposes and restrictions of the program; (4) the legislation that authorized the…

Age-appropriate activities for children and curriculum guidelines for mothers operating family day care homes for infants and toddlers were developed with the goal of improving the quality of day care programming. Curriculum goals were to (1) facilitate children's achievement of self-identity and self-esteem; (2) provide an outlet for creative…

The purpose of this book is to provide information and guidance about providing for children's social and behavioural learning. The book can be used in a variety of ways depending on the situation and previous experience of the reader. It is arranged in six chapters with a related training session at the end of each chapter. The intended audience…

This study identified training needs for Pennsylvania child care providers and assessed the impact of training, classroom/caregiver dynamics, and staff characteristics on child care quality. Participating were 29 family child care providers, 30 group homes, and 60 child care centers, stratified by type of site and geographic region. Quality of…

Recent changes such as declining economic status of families and large-scale employment of women have resulted in increased utilization of child care services and the need for qualified child care providers. This study evaluated the Preservice Training for Child Care Workers programs' ability to meet the training needs of rural Texas child care…

This study examined early childhood caregivers' perceptions of the availability and quality of child care and examined the extent to which caregiver knowledge, training, experience, and motivation predicted judgments of quality and availability. Surveys were mailed to 292 licensed and registered family day care providers in Shelby County,…

Reports on behavior management training given to seven caregivers of a home-dwelling spouse with Alzheimer's disease. Results reveal that trained caregivers were successful at decreasing patient repetitions using written cues. Patients of control subjects showed no systematic changes in behavioral disturbances. Intervention effects lasted for 16…

Describes the Home-Based Child Care Program, an initiative to improve child care quality by providing training to kith-and-kin caregivers and to family child care providers in three New York City low-income immigrant communities and by expanding local employment opportunities. Notes that the program achieved its primary goals, providing…

Describes six books about day care issues and provides availability information. Topics of books include: (1) sexual abuse in day care; (2) a caregiver training package; (3) issues confronting cities and families; (4) tax tips; (5) food safety; and (6) campus child care. (RJC)

Argues that continuous training is important for improving the quality of day-care provision. Social learning theory is used to examine David A. Kolb's experiential learning model as an approach to training day-care providers. Concludes that attention must also be given to the creation of conditions under which experiential learning can be…