Assessed child care quality based on reports of 170 center directors in three California counties. Responses indicated that most centers in lower-income and working-class communities displayed at least moderate quality levels along structural measures. About 1 in 6 failed to meet recommended quality standards. Center quality was not consistently…

Discusses issues in establishing and managing a tuition assistance program for child care centers, including target groups, sources of aid, determining need, and whether to use an external financial aid service. (JPB)

Discusses ideas for establishing rituals and celebrations to ease enrollment and staffing transitions during the child care center school year. Recommends ways to make transitions part of the curriculum through the use of daily routines, picture books, celebrations, and gift giving to mark significant events and changes. (JPB)

Discusses important considerations when designing early childhood facilities, including adequate space, design features that work for both small children and adults, floorcovering, color, and technology. (EV)

More children than ever are in care centers, and child care experiences of infants and toddlers are believed to have a powerful and lasting impact on children's well-being. A team of researchers from the FPG Child Development Institute created a study to examine the effects that transitions have on children's behavior and observable stress when…

In 1946 the well-known Danish educator Sofie Rifbjerg (1886-1991) travelled for six months to the USA. The purpose of her trip was to study American developmental psychology. On her way she spent some time at the Institute of Child Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley. The institute had become famous because of its working on…

Questions on the gap between the price parents pay and the "true cost" of quality care were the catalyst for the True Cost of Quality (TCOQ) project launched in the spring of 2001 by the City of Seattle's Northwest Finance Circle. The mission of the Northwest Finance Circle, a community collaboration, was to improve and expand the…

The Early ON School Readiness Project is an emerging community-based model aimed at promoting the school readiness of 3- to 5-year-old children in a metropolitan area with a predominantly Latino (Mexican-American) population. Using an ecological approach, the multi-component program seeks to enhance school readiness opportunities for children at…

This policy brief examines who is taking care of preschoolers of employed mothers in rural America. While most rural families choose home-based child care (such as relatives or informal nonrelated care providers), formal care (such as in day care centers) has positive benefits to a child's development. The brief recommends that programs are needed…

This observational study examined practices through which child care teachers socialize children's emotion. A specific aim was to describe strategies of teacher intervention in response to emotion displayed by children in child care centers, and to answer the question of differential interactions based on children's age and gender. The results of…

This book is intended as a resource for those who create, adapt, and cope with settings for young children. It focuses particularly on all-day child care settings. Part 1, "Understanding Children's Settings," explores the power of the environment, or the "landscape" of children's lives--the array of settings they inhabit--and analyzes the…

In response to the need for guidance, this manual provides assistance for faith-based communities as they decide whether licensed child care fits within their ministry. The manual covers steps for getting started, key factors in determining budget, performing a needs assessment in the community and for the facility, the administrative structure of…

As the number of campus child care centers increases to meet the needs of a growing and diverse student and faculty population, many college campuses are struggling to recruit and retain faculty and staff. There are currently about 2,500 campus child care centers, and almost 35% are managed by an academic unit of the university, with another 30%…

Notes the overuse of antibiotics and the resulting resistant bacterial strains. Describes how to control and prevent staphylococcal infections specifically, and almost all infectious diseases generally. Specific sections address: (1) what are staph infections; (2) preventing staph infections; (3) caring for wounds; and (4) controlling staph…

Drawing on the latest research on child care, Bright Horizons Family Solutions convened a group of child development experts to discuss the findings and implications of studies for parents, providers, and investors in child care. This summary presents questions put to the panel during the roundtable discussion and participants' responses.…