This book is designed to serve as a handbook for early childhood professionals and others interested in improving the quality of early childhood services available to young children and their families. It also serves as a resource for information and tools that can be used to: (1) build a compelling case for improving the quality of early childhood services; and (2) bring additional resources into the early childhood system. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the issues and introduces the key concepts of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Full Cost of Quality campaign. Chapter 2 provides an economic perspective that explains the lack of affordable, high quality early childhood care and education. Chapter 3 outlines the costs of failure to provide high quality care for children and its effects on the children, their families, and their teachers and caregivers. Chapter 4 offers an overview of NAEYC's criteria for high quality early childhood programs, while chapter 5 presents NAEYC's position statement on guidelines for compensation of early childhood professionals. Chapter 6, which is tailored to programs in centers, schools, and family child care homes, presents a framework and data for estimating the full cost of high quality care, and Chapter 7 provides a guide for organizing a community coalition focussed on strategies for reaching that full cost. A list of resource organizations and materials, and worksheets and information about NAEYC, are appended. (RH)