Supporting and caring for each other are crucial parts of the social tissue that binds people together. In these networks, men and women hold different positions: Women more often care more for others, listen more to the problems of others, and, as kin keepers, hold families together. Is this true for all life stages? And are social conditions,…

This paper reports the design and trial of an original Observational Framework for quantitative investigation of young children's responses to adult language in their typical language learning environments. The Framework permits recording of both the response expectation of the adult utterances, and the degree of compliance in the child's…

This qualitative research examined the perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, and experiences of grandchildren caregivers who ranged in age from 7 to 29 years. Thirty-four caregiving grandchildren participated in face to-face semistructured interviews lasting approximately 35 to 90 minutes. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Analysis…

Preservice teachers are socialized by their own raced, classed, and gendered experiences to expect "caring parents" to behave and contribute in certain ways to their children's schooling. Preservice teachers who come from widely divergent backgrounds from the communities in which they serve can sometimes be skeptical of parents who are not…

This article reports on a study that examined a cohort of African American kinship (n = 57) and nonkinship (n = 53) foster parents' perceptions of their role responsibilities as a foster care provider. The Foster Parent Role Perception (FPRP) scale was used to measure perceived role responsibility. Results indicated that both the kinship and…

Scientific research is the systematic acquisition of knowledge by the scientific method. The scientific method begins with an idea, a hypothesis, about how things work. Next comes the systematic collection of evidence and the analysis of the evidence to see if it confirms or disconfirms the hypothesis. The more evidence there is that confirms a…

We use observations from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and, Youth Development (SECCYD) to compare structural and process characteristics of child care centers, family child care homes (nonrelative care in a home setting) and care by relatives for 2-, 3- and 4.5-year-old children. Type of care differences in structural and caregiver…

This study evaluated the construct of childhood traumatic grief (CTG) and its correlates through a multi-site assessment of 132 bereaved children and adolescents. Youth completed a new measure of the characteristics, attributions, and reactions to exposure to death (CARED), as well as measures of CTG, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD),…

While early childhood education programs seek to provide the tools to work with children and explore content, many fail to address the social and emotional contexts in which early childhood education occurs. This is evident in the seldom addressed topic of collaboration between lead teachers and assistant teachers in the early childhood classroom.…

The quality of child-teacher interactions during daily child care routines plays a significant role in young children's development. The nature of mealtimes--the pace, the caregiver's responsiveness, how food is offered--affects infants' and toddlers' emotional health. Maintaining consistency between how children are fed at home and at the center…

This paper describes the Parent-Caregiver Project, a research and demonstration program which focuses on the relationship between parents and caregivers in group day care settings. The project's purpose is two-fold: (1) to determine the nature of and identify variables that appear to influence parent-caregiver relationships in day care settings;…

Discusses nine reasons why quality in day care centers depends on the adult with whom children interact on a day-to-day basis. Defines teacher roles in providing a high quality early childhood program. (DR)

This report describes a study of the training of early childhood educators in the state of New Mexico, undertaken during the summer of 1991. The study sought to: (1) determine the scope and content of training used by a variety of early childhood educators; (2) develop a profile of both agencies and individuals who provide training; (3) identify…

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the child care system in the metropolitan Detroit area is responsive to the needs of families. The study is introduced by a literature review examining current tends and providing a historical overview of child care in the United States. Questionnaires sent to parents of children at…

This study examined the relationship between child caregiver commitment and the caregiver's personal characteristics and work experience, the characteristics of the job, and the quality of the child care center. Questionnaires that included several measurement instruments were sent to 381 full-time child caregivers in 94 centers. Caregiver…