Early childhood teachers routinely face insufficient teaching supports and inadequate rewards for their education and commitment (e.g., low pay, lack of professional supports, and lack of benefits). These shortcomings contribute to poor program quality and fuel high levels of teacher turnover, preventing program improvement and making it…

This report discusses a 2-year evaluation of the California Early Childhood Mentor Teacher Program (CECMTP), in which experienced child care teachers serve as mentors, using their classroom as a practicum environment to train student teachers. The evaluation assessed the extent to which CECMTP goals were met by answering the following three…

A large-scale longitudinal assessment was conducted of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) child care center accreditation process. The assessment focused on the extent to which centers seeking NAEYC accreditation improve in quality, the level of quality and staff stability achieved, and support needed. Classroom…