Characteristics of Early Care and Education Collaboration Associated with Success

ABSTRACT

Research Findings: In this non-experimental study, the research team analyzed data from a randomly selected sample of child care programs in Maryland and Vermont to understand what characteristics contribute to collaboration success. The team also examined the relationship between collaboration success and measures of child care program quality. We found positive correlations between collaboration success – defined as programs’ use of collaborative strategies, structural indicators of quality, and QRIS ratings – and programs’ collaboration administration and collaboration relationships. In addition, programs that used more collaboration strategies had higher ratings on the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). Policy or Practice: Policies designed to encourage early childhood collaborations should support strong administrative processes among collaborators and provide specific guidance on building strong relationships among child care and early education administrators. Future research is needed to determine the causes of the associations. Research should focus on how policies can broaden the reach of federal and state programs that promote collaboration to include programs that have lower QRIS ratings or programs that opt out of these state systems.     

Strategies in Home and School Collaboration among Early Education Teachers

In this study, the strategies teachers use in home and school collaboration were surveyed. The subjects were early education teachers in Helsinki, Finland. Questionnaires were used for the data collection. Factor analysis resulted in the extraction of six strategy types. Strategies representing parents as the recipients of information were most frequently used. Strategies representing two‐way communication were also quite often in evidence. The most rarely used strategies included parents as decision makers, volunteers, or resources in the elaboration of learning. Teachers who had children who were approximately the same age as their pupils were more active in using strategies involving teachers as supporters of parenting and parents as a resource for the elaboration of learning. The strategies found and the implications of the Finnish data are discussed.     

Approaches to Collaboration: Experiences of the Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships

ABSTRACT

This study examined how partnerships between early care and education providers were developed and how they worked together to deliver comprehensive, high-quality services to infants and toddlers from low-income families. Survey data were collected from 220 Early Head Start (EHS) program directors and 386 child care center directors and family child care providers participating in EHS-child care partnerships. Research Findings: Nearly half of EHS programs chose partners with whom they had prior relationships, and most engaged them early (often before receiving the grant). Both EHS programs and child care providers described their relationships as mutually respectful and focused on similar goals. Through the partnerships, child care providers had access to professional development opportunities and offered children and families comprehensive services, such as health screenings. Practice or Policy: This study provided a nationally representative picture of EHS-child care partnerships. The findings suggest that strong relationships are foundational to the implementation of early care and education collaborations aimed at expanding access to high-quality care for infants and toddlers from low-income families. Collaborations are a potentially important policy lever that can help support the expansion of high-quality early care and education.     

界定早期教育质量必须考虑的三个维度

上世纪70年代以来,早期教育质量一直备受研究者、家长和政策制定者的关注,但是这一领域却充满了争议,人们对早期教育质量是主观的还是客观的,谁有权力决定质量的内涵,以及如何测量质量等存在着不同的看法.未来的研究需要在具体的历史背景下重新建构早期教育质量的内涵,整合早期教育质量观在以上三个维度上的不同争议,并与幼儿的发展紧密联系起来.     

Assessing Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care

Evaluating quality in early childhood education and care (ECEC) service internationally is increasingly important. Research to date indicates that it is ‘high-quality’ programmes that boost and sustain children's achievement outcomes over time. There is also growing interest in the accountability of public funds used for ECEC programmes and the types of measures that assess ECEC quality. This article reviews eleven existing instruments that were designed to assess global ECEC programmes and examines them in terms of their strengths and weaknesses as quality measurement tools and the adequacy of the measures to sufficiently reflect the context and purposes of the assessment. Through this process the authors identify directions for the development of new measures that are both theoretically and psychometrically sound.     

德国学前教育的发展现况和未来趋势

德国的学前教育长期以来并没有形成统一的学前托管模式,入园率、师资等在原东德和原西德地区之间存在很大差异.德国的学前教育计划由各州自行制定、实施并监管,但联邦政府还是从政策和财政投入两方面积极推动学前教育的发展.为了使母亲有更多的就业机会,德国政府不断加强对学前教育的关注度和投入力度:从法律上保障儿童接受学前教育的权益;提供灵活多样的社会托管服务;将托管服务对象由3～6岁扩大到0～6岁并致力于改善托幼机构的育儿质量.     

Collaboration of Teacher Education and Child Disability Health Care: Transdisciplinary Approach to Inclusive Practice for Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers

The purpose of this paper is to describe the collaborative efforts between an Early Childhood Teacher Education Program and a Child Disability Health Care Program to incorporate a transdisciplinary model in the preparation of early childhood teachers in inclusive practice. Recent studies suggest essential components of teacher preparation in early childhood inclusion include: helping students construct a positive image of inclusive practice, incorporating a family-centered approach, and collaborating and relationship building across disciplines (Campbell et al. 2003; Pretti-Frontczak et al. 2002 and Able-Boone et al. 2002). In this paper, we describe the collaboration between the University of Michigan-Dearborn Early Childhood Teacher Education Program and Oakwood Health Care Center for Exceptional Families to co-teach and mentor early childhood pre-service teachers as they create a family-centered event for children with disabilities and their typically developing peers in a natural environment. Researchers analyze student reflection papers about the family-centered event for evidence of new learning about child disability and inclusive practice. The reflections demonstrate the power of the students’ active role in creating and implementing family-centered activities in a collaborative context. Other key reflective components include rewards and challenges in creating inclusive contexts, integral role of families in supporting child relationships in natural settings, and collaboration and teaming.     

Swedish Child Care and Early Childhood Education in Transition

This paper focuses on recent changes in the Swedish system of child care and early childhood education. These changes are described and analyzed in relation to the economic and socio-political context of which they are a part. It is argued that the early childhood education sector in Sweden has been and still is an important part of the welfare society which in its turn now is in a state of transition. Neo-liberal ideas and the economic conjuncture have implied severe cuts and changes in childcare policies. The implications of these changes are discussed in the final section of the paper.     

Rights of the Child and Early Childhood Education and Care in Europe

‘Securing the rights articulated in the Convention is an effective approach to improving the quality of early experiences.’ 1 1 Early Childhood Rights Indicators, A guide for Monitoring the Convention on the Rights of the Child, http://earlylearning.ubc.ca/media/uploads/documents/internationalresearchbriefjan2012.pdf , p2
This article analyses early childhood education and care and child rights in early childhood and their relationship in the European Union. Both are primarily national competencies. The EU has limited access and tools to influence policies and practices, while there are many ways in which indirect interventions are not only possible, but greatly used, often in areas that do not seem to be closely related to the issues discussed here. Yet there is a strong desire and interest of the different EU institutions to encourage and support Member States to implement both ECEC targets and child rights. In this article, we show that, while ECEC has become an essential part of different policies at EU level, there have been efforts to implement and mainstream child rights, with special attention paid to specific dimensions in relation to early childhood policies and practices, but a child rights based approach is missing.     

An Investigation of Japanese and American Early Care and Education

Staff interviews and classroom observations based on predetermined observation criteria and open-ended questions were conducted at early care and education programs in Kakunodate, Akita, Japan; Tazawako, Akita, Japan; Butte, Montana; and Missoula, Montana. Differences in curriculum, classroom structure and educational strategies were found. For example, group instruction was more prevalent in Japan and individual instruction was more common in the United States. Physical environments reflected these differences; Japanese schools had gymnasiums, swimming pools, pianos and televisions for large group activities and American schools had learning centers and computers for individual and small group activities. American teachers reported developing curriculum and activities based on individual child development and Japanese teachers reported developing curriculum based on promoting community and regard for others. Further study of Japanese early care and education is suggested to assist American educators in partnering with Japanese and Japanese-American families in providing more culturally relevant curriculum.     

美国各级政府与学前儿童的保育和教育

本文论述了美国联邦政府、州政府和地方政府在学前儿童的保育和教育方面扮演的角色和担负的职责.     

亚太地区学前儿童保育和教育发展现状

亚太地区国家在学前儿童保育和教育发展方面存在着较大差异.本文通过梳理亚太地区各国为学前儿童提供的服务、学前儿童的福利状况(五岁以下儿童死亡率和毛入园率)、学前教育行政管理和资金投入等方面的情况,提出了相关的对策建议.     

Early Childhood Education and Care Content for the Social Work Curriculum

Social workers are poised to play an important role in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings; however, they need the knowledge and skills necessary to make a meaningful contribution. This article presents learning activities that infuse ECEC content, centered on the following four areas for social work education: (1) history of the profession, (2) observation of current practice, (3) culturally competent service delivery, and (4) advocacy to enhance social justice. Through this infusion of content, social work educators can better prepare their students for the growing field of ECEC practice and for social work practice more broadly.     

Early Childhood Education and Care Vade Mecum for 2002

This is not an article, but a series of compressed notes which attempt to set down what the writer sees as the principal concerns highlighted in recent studies of early childhood socialisation from birth to about eight years. It draws heavily upon personal and professional experience of education and care systems in some sixteen countries as well as upon current OECD and UNESCO data. It deals with the concerns surrounding a minority of the world's children, however; that is the 10% or less, born into the rich portion of the (largely western) world. It focuses on the context surrounding the growing need for 'institutionalised' provision for children from birth in those OECD countries where divorce is common-place, where the birth rate has fallen dramatically and where, increasingly, most adult women work outside the home. It notes especially the gradual congruence of early childhood care and early education in policy and practice. It emphasises the vital contribution of appropriate early experience and learning to the creation of a humane society, briefly considers the policy preoccupations with literacy, and notes especially that the biggest single factor contributing to high quality provision lies in the quality of the professional staff concerned.