Gossiping staff in early childhood programs models destructive behavior and harms families' trust in the professionalism of the program. Bruno identifies some of the causes and motives for gossip and examines its occurrence in early care and education settings. She offers step-by-step strategies to help supervisors set and enact policies that…

This article can help teachers and directors become eloquent and effective advocates of play-based early learning environments. It defines play and play policy and discusses distinct research areas that support play policy and practice for physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development within diverse early childhood settings. Also…

In the rush of day-to-day tasks and the daily demands of caring for young children, little time is left for conversation between administrators and teachers. Both sides often walk out of meetings feeling like little more than paperwork has been accomplished. Likewise, professional development becomes a paperwork formality. Both administrators and…

Today an ever-increasing number of infants and young children with and without disabilities play, develop, and learn together in a variety of places--homes, early childhood programs, neighborhoods, and other community-based settings. The notion that young children with disabilities and their families are full members of the community reflects…

Transitions--from hospital to home, early intervention to preschool, child care to school--are times of major change for children and families. The resources presented in this article can be used to build the capacity of family members, professionals, and administrators to understand and support transition practices that are thoughtful,…

In recent years, researchers and practitioners have become increasingly interested in father/male involvement in early childhood programs. However, few empirical studies have examined early childhood educators' efforts to involve fathers in such programs. The purpose of the present investigation was to assess early childhood educators' efforts to…

Discusses transitions to and from specific activities (i.e., free choice time, group activities, clean-up time, outside play, meals, naps, and using bathrooms) as well as children's arrivals and departures from the preschool or day care center. (CB)

Principles of program evaluation and strategic planning are discussed and applied to a case example of the Anne Arundel County (Maryland) Infants and Toddlers Program. This program contended with issues of increased referrals and enrollment, evolution from a child-centered to a family-centered paradigm, and change to community-based provision and…

This article describes individual steps of a marketing plan, as well as field practices from more than 20 early intervention programs using the marketing approach to help achieve public awareness of early intervention programs as required under Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. (DB)

This paper describes the Oklahoma Statewide Training and Regional Support (STARS) program, a system of early intervention inservice training developed to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part H. Major challenges included identification of technical assistance needs, facilitation of training attendance, identification…

The social work practice arena and professional preparation are described as they relate to infants and young children vulnerable to developmental problems and problems of psychosocial dysfunction. Curriculum structure of accredited Master's degree programs and the model curriculum project of the National Catholic School of Social Service are…