Fall Research Notes now available!
Developing a Unified Performance Measurement System

In recent years, a host of studies have exposed wide inconsistency in quality of early childhood programs in the United States.  Findings reveal that large populations of young children receive poor or inadequate services. Policymakers have responded by pursuing a variety of strategies to measure and enhance children’s early learning experiences. However, with numerous measurement tools available, meaningful and consistent measurement of quality has proven challenging. It is unclear how quality measures compare, what they specifically measure, and how they function across different early childhood education systems—child care, Head Start, and state-funded pre-kindergarten.

To address these questions researchers at the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University examined two measures designed for program improvement, monitoring, and research and evaluation: the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) and the Program Administration Scale (PAS). Read a summary of their findings.

Leadership Development in Early Childhood Care and Education:
A View of the Current Landscape

 Dr. Stacie Goffin (with Kim Means) has just released a compendium of early care and education leadership development programs in the United States.  This compendium, Leadership Development in Early Childhood Care and Education: A View of the Current Landscape is available online at www.goffinstrategygroup.com. Once on the site, click Resources.

The compendium includes a description of  86 early care and education leadership development programs across the country and provides information about the purpose, focus, and funding of these programs, as well as an overview of findings. Dr. Goffin considers this compendium as a work in progress. If there are other early care and education leadership initiatives that should be included, contact her at eceleadership@gmail.com to share the information.