`Not only does this book offer a great deal of insight into evaluating early childhood services, it also provides a focal point for those interested in establishing goals, objectives and evaluation criteria for their own early childhood programmes′ - Early Years `Quality′ has become a priority issue for all concerned with early childhood care and education services. Starting from the premise that `quality′ is a relative and dynamic concept based on values and beliefs, Valuing Quality in Early Childhood Services examines how the definitions of quality are established and who is involved in their establishment. The book advocates that the process should involve a range of stakeholder groups, including children, parents, staff, care providers, researchers, employers and the community. A key issue that emerges is the need for new and creative approaches to the development of an inclusionary process in the definitions and attainment of quality care.

This book challenges received wisdom and the tendency to reduce philosophical issues of value to purely technical issues of measurement and management.

Early childhood care and education (ECCE) settings offer an opportunity to provide children with a solid beginning in all areas of their development. The quality and efficacy of these settings depend largely on the individuals within the ECCE workforce. Policy makers need a complete picture of ECCE teachers and caregivers in order to tackle the persistent challenges facing this workforce. The IOM and the National Research Council hosted a workshop to describe the ECCE workforce and outline its parameters. Speakers explored issues in defining and describing the workforce, the marketplace of ECCE, the effects of the workforce on children, the contextual factors that shape the workforce, and opportunities for strengthening ECCE as a profession.

Q̀uality' has become a priority issue for all concerned with early childhood care & education services. Starting from the premise that q̀uality' is a relative & dynamic concept based on values & beliefs, this text examines how the definitions of quality are established & who is involved in their establishment.

Strategies to promote literacy competence

This review of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in twenty OECD countries describes the social, economic, conceptual and research factors that influence early childhood policy.