Barbara Pickney directs 12 Head Start Programs for St. Landry Parish and is the president of the Louisiana Head Start Association. The story of her career with Head Start is related. Peer review training is credited for the growth and professional development of her staff. (GB)

Describes the collaboration between two large multi-site child care and education facilities in Hawaii that belong to the six-member Childcare Business Coalition. Includes suggestions from the coalition to contribute to discussion on policy and child-care business issues, to advocate for families, and to obtain grants for staff training. (KB)

Presents child-care directors' opinions regarding influences on their thinking about staff development. Suggests strategies for keeping professional-development efforts on track, such as using the questions emerging from working with children as a basis for learning, incorporating time and systems for thinking about learning, forming a book/study…

This article presents principles for effective adult learning applicable in child care settings. These principles include the need for motivation to learn, the view that learning is an active process, the benefits from guidance, the importance of appropriate materials and activities for sequential learning, the need for reinforcement and varied…

This article presents strategies for improving relationships between child caregivers and families. Strategies include creating family-friendly environments, focusing on the family during phone calls and center tours, supplementing enrollment forms with pages for family books, inviting family members to share stories of their childhood, rethinking…

Presents strategies used in early childhood anti-bias workshops to promote understanding of the influences on identity development, including asking teachers to recall their earliest memory of differences. Discusses strategies to help participants recognize different forms of bias, such as analyzing materials with a group thinking process.…

Describes infant-toddler training-of-trainers workshop in which trainers respond to trainee resistance through role-plays illustrating respectful and disrespectful ways of training and through discussions focusing on accepting and acknowledging the feelings of trainees and trainers. Asserts that forming diverse training teams, valuing opposing…

Suggests strategies for rethinking the early childhood program environment. Recommends reflecting program values throughout the environment, understanding how different elements influence behavior, and considering the role of schedules, routines, and rituals. Strategies include reinventing assessment tools, identifying the feelings elicited by…

Describes an early childhood classroom rotation system which maximizes use of space and equipment and encourages teachers to further develop specific areas of teaching expertise. (NH)

Discusses coaching programs designed to give direct supervision and feedback to teachers through on-site support and technical assistance. Three coaching models cited are peer, mentor, and technical. States that research demonstrates benefits to teachers being coached, to teachers acting as coaches, and to schools. (NH)

Examines ways to use effectively the technology involved in teaching and learning online as they pertain to training child caregivers. Provides guidelines for early childhood administrators to prepare themselves to teach an online or web-enhanced course or training program. Identifies challenges and barriers confronting online learners. Lists…

Describes recent state initiatives to improve child care for Mississippi children. Efforts include development of a child care director's credential, on-site training through staff at mobile training vans, initiatives to heighten consumer awareness and help parents make informed choices, voter education projects, and free yearly conferences for…

Describes efforts of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the Center for Career Development in Early Care and Education, the Council for Early Childhood Professional Recognition, and the Child Care Employee Project to help make work in the early childhood field a feasible career. Provides addresses and phone numbers for…

The child care workforce is changing. More than ever before, directors must contend with faculty whose educational levels, job expectations, and career aspirations differ widely. Teachers vary in their experience, professional demeanor, stages in career development, and most recently, generational differences that impact the significance and…

Highlights some recent social developments which have hastened the increase in school-age child care and provides facts and figures on the nature of school-age care today. Areas covered include the beginning of the school-age care movement, the emergence of a professional newsletter, organization of the National School-Age Care Alliance, federal…