Description
Essential guidance for your quality improvement initiatives. High-quality early childhood programs have a tremendous positive impact on children's school readiness and long-term success—but with obstacles like high teacher turnover and a fragmented system, many programs don't give young children the best possible start. Decision-makers can work toward change with the help of this forward-thinking book, the most comprehensive, up-to-date research synthesis available on quality in early childhood education (ECE).
Bringing together the biggest ideas and the best thinking from more than a dozen top researchers in the ECE quality movement, this book clearly lays out what we know about quality today, which areas need focused improvement efforts, and what kind of innovative program-level changes will strengthen outcomes for children. Beginning with an in-depth look at what makes a program "high-quality," readers will fully explore the complex issues and challenges surrounding implementation of
- a coordinated, comprehensive, and integrated ECE system
- effective teacher professional development-both preservice and inservice
- accurate quality measurement across all key facets of a program
- early learning standards as a tool to guide program improvement efforts
- technical assistance activities that enhance and sustain program quality
- successful Quality Rating and Improvement Systems
Readers will get a complete primer on which policies are guiding programs now, such as NAEYC's 2009 Developmentally Appropriate Practices, the NAEYC/DEC joint position statement on early childhood inclusion, and various state standards. They'll also discover the promising new directions, bold innovations, and future policy requirements that will help them break down the barriers to program quality and repair the fragmented system.
With this critical, rigorously researched look at the past, present, and future of early childhood education, program administrators and other decision-makers will have the insights they need to work for real change and ensure the high-quality education every young child deserves.
Reviews
Review: Midwest Book Review Education Shelf
"Teachers receive quality measurement tools and assessments and technical assistance activities, making this a top pick for any educator's library. "
Review: Young Children, NAEYC
"An honest appraisal of measurement systems and current quality improvement initiatives . . . presents new ideas for advancing quality improvement efforts that include standards, measures, and methods for achieving quality and needed new research. These innovations would fundamentally change the way the field conceptualizes and supports program quality. "
Review by: Jim Lesko, Director, Early Development and Learning Resources; Delaware Department of Education
"Right on target with the information states will need as they create and evolve their respective quality rating systems."
Review by: Robert Pianta, Dean, Curry School of Education; Director, Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
"Provides important perspectives on what could be a major policy innovation in early childhood education . . . helps foster a critical but open perspective on ways to improve the impact of early education and care."
Table of Contents
About the Editors
About the Contributors
Foreword: Anne W. Mitchell
Preface
- Changing Times and the Quest for Quality - Patricia W. Wesley & Virginia Buysse
- Research on Program Quality: The Evidence Base - Ellen S. Peisner-Feinberg & Noreen Yazejian
- Issues in Measuring Program Quality - Donna M. Bryant, Martha Zaslow, & Margaret Burchinal
- Early Learning Standards and Quality Improvement Initiatives: A Systemic Approach to Supporting Children's Learning and Development - Catherine Scott-Little, Deborah J. Cassidy, Joanna K. Lower, & Sarah J. Ellen
- Quality Rating and Improvement Systems: Achieving the Promise for Programs, Parents, Children, and Early Childhood Systems - Kathryn Tout and Kelly L. Maxwell
- Professional Development and Quality Initiatives: Two Essential Components of an Early Childhood System - Pamela J. Winton
- Rethinking Technical Assistance to Support Quality Improvement - Patricia W. Wesley & Virginia Buysse
- Early Childhood Policy and Implications for Quality Initiatives - Beth Rous & Kim F. Townley
- Program Quality Through the Lens of Disruptive Innovation Theory - Virginia Buysse & Patricia W. Wesley
Index