The Quest for Quality: Promising Innovations for Early Childhood Programs

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.

Pamela J. Winton, a Senior Scientist at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, has been involved in research, outreach, technical assistance, professional development, and scholarly publishing related to early childhood for the last three decades. Winton has directed multiple national TA centers over the last two decades including the National Center on Professional Development on Inclusion (NPDCI), whose purpose was to work with states to create a cross-agency system of high quality professional development (PD) for early childhood teachers; and CONNECT, bringing an evidence-based practice approach to professional development in key early childhood content areas. Winton has published numerous books, articles, chapters, and curricula on topics related to professional development, collaboration, systems change, family-professional partnerships, and inclusion. She has served on national, state and local advisory boards, review panels, and been recognized by local, state and national awards.

As Director of the Office for Policy and Communications of SRCD, Dr. Zaslow works to bring research on children’s development to policy makers and the broader public and to bring information about policy developments to the SRCD membership. She also oversees the SRCD Policy Fellowship program. As Senior Scholar at Child Trends, Dr. Zaslow’s research focuses on early childhood development and takes an ecological approach, considering the role of multiple contexts including the family, early care and education (ECE) settings, and programs and policies for families with young children.

Patricia W. Wesley, M.Ed., is Senior Scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is also Clinical Instructor in the School of Education. Following a decade as the director of an inclusive preschool, in 1990 she became the director of Partnerships for Inclusion, a statewide training and consultation project supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities and their families in all aspects of community life. In this role, she has developed, implemented, evaluated, and published an on-site model of consultation to enhance quality in early childhood programs. She also has developed several community approaches for building broad-based acceptance of people with disabilities. In addition to early childhood inclusion and consultation, Ms. Wesley's interests include parent leadership and communities of practice in early childhood education. She is a frequent guest reviewer for several professional journals and a popular keynote speaker on the state and national lecture circuit.

Dr. Buysse is Senior Scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to directing a program of research on Recognition & Response, a model of response to intervention for prekindergarten, her research interests include innovations in professional development; models such as consultation, coaching, mentoring, and communities of practice that support professional development and program improvement; and educational practices and interventions that address the unique needs of diverse learners—those who have disabilities, who have learning difficulties, or who are dual language learners.

Dr. Donna Bryant, Ph.D., began her professional career at FPG in 1978. She has led dozens of research projects including several Head Start consortia studies, NC’s Smart Start initiative, a 5-state study of a professional development consultation model, home visiting interventions, and evaluations of state QRIS systems. Current efforts include three studies within the Educare Learning Network of high-quality birth-5 schools.

Margaret Burchinal, Ph.D., Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, FPG Child Development Institute, CB 8185, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599. Dr. Burchinal is a senior scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute. She has served as the primary statistician for many child care studies, including the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development study of early child care and youth development; the Abecedarian Project; the National Center for Early Development and Learning 11-state prekindergarten evaluation; and the Cost, Quality, & Outcomes Study.

Dr. Peisner-Feinberg is Senior Scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her background is in developmental psychology and public policy, and she has more than 20 years of research experience in early childhood education and program evaluation. Dr. Peisner-Feinberg has conducted numerous statewide and national research studies focused on the quality of early education programs and initiatives; the effects on children, especially dual language learners and children at risk; and quality improvement strategies.

Beth S. Rous is faculty in the Department of Educational Leadership Studies, College of Education, and Director of the Kentucky Partnership for Early Childhood Services at Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute, University of Kentucky, Lexington. She began her career as a teacher, where she worked in public and private child care and taught at the preschool, elementary, and middle-school levels. Her research has involved a variety of topics in early childhood education and early childhood special education, including transition, standards and accountability, professional development systems, and program quality. She has published numerous articles, technical and training manuals, and book chapters. For almost 20 years, Dr. Rous provided training and technical assistance through a number of federally funded demonstration, outreach, and research projects. She served as Principal Investigator for the National Early Childhood Transition Center, and Co-PI for CONNECT: Center to Mobilize Early Childhood Knowledge. She has served in leadership roles in multiple professional organizations, including President of the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children.

Dr. Tout is Codirector of Early Childhood Research at Child Trends. She oversees projects in Child Trends’s Minnesota office. Her research focuses on policies and programs to improve the quality of early care and education and families’ access to quality settings and programs to improve the quality and effectiveness of the early childhood workforce.