This paper summarizes findings of an international study which compares the early childhood education and day care systems in 10 industralized nations: France, Great Britain, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Israel, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, USSR, and the United States. Provisions for children from infancy to school entrance are considered. Historical perspectives on early education and care are reviewed and examples are given of three markedly different systems which provide day care and education to young children today. The bulk of the report consists of comparisons among national systems along such dimensions as goals; composition of classes; training, selection, and supervision of staff; features of the physical plant; design of curriculum; and methods of teaching. The main contrasts observed between the United States and other countries studied include the absence of active research and program evaluation in most other countries and a lack of self-criticism on educational issues in countries other than the United States, Great Britain, and Sweden. Preschool personnel in other countries are said to have a sense of conviction and purposiveness that may influence feeling of security in children and effectiveness in teachers. The report calls into question the assumptions of United States educators that early education requires (1) low student-teacher ratios and (2) more stringent teacher education requirements than exist in other countries. It is noted that the early childhood goals of character development emphasized abroad appear to be lacking in United States systems. (GO)