Quality Measurement in Early Childhood Settings

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Quality Measurement in Early Childhood Settings
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Martha Zaslow, Ph.D., Ivelisse Martinez-Beck, Ph.D., Kathryn Tout, Ph.D., Tamara Halle, Ph.D.
Early Childhood
This comprehensive resource brings together more than 50 experts to establish what's working and how quality measurement in early childhood settings can be improved.
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STOCK NUMBER ISBN
71615 978-1-59857-161-5
COPYRIGHT PAGES
2011 456
AVAILABILITY
Available Stock

What constitutes quality in early childhood settings, and how can it best be measured with today's widely used tools and promising new approaches? Find authoritative answers in this book, a must-have for high-level administrators and policymakers as more and more states adopt early childhood Quality Rating and Improvement Systems.

The most comprehensive resource on measuring quality in both home- and center-based settings, this book brings together a who's who of early childhood experts to establish what's working in quality measurement and how it can be strengthened to support better programs and optimal child development. Readers will explore specific approaches to measuring the quality of factors that are key to school readiness, including

  • supports for early language and literacy development
  • math and science curricula and instruction
  • environmental supports for social and emotional competence
  • health-related factors such as nutrition, safety, and adequate physical activity
  • family-sensitive child care
  • cultural responsiveness
  • services for children with disabilities
  • practices that promote dual language learners' development and learning

To help them measure these factors accurately, readers will get critical analyses of dozens of current assessment measures, plus an exclusive inside look at today's most promising new tools. Readers will also find invaluable guidance on "big picture" issues—such as how to align quality measures with professional development goals and desired child outcomes; how to make sound, data-driven decisions when implementing a large-scale Quality Rating and Improvement System, and how to conduct integrated quality assessments that combine the best of observational and structural approaches.

An essential reference for anyone involved in a statewide effort to improve program quality, this book also makes an ideal graduate-level text for tomorrow's early childhood decision makers. Readers will have the knowledge base they need to strengthen their quality measurement—so they can be sure their programs lead to positive outcomes and get children ready for school success.

About the Editors
Contributors
Foreword Mary Bruce Webb
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why Strengthening the Measurement of Quality in Early Childhood Settings Has Taken on New Importance
Ivelisse Martinez-Beck

Section I. Reasons to Take Stock and Strengthen Our Measures of Quality
  1. Setting the Context for a Discussion of Quality Measures: The Demographic Landscape of Early Care and Education
    Tamara Halle, Ivelisse Martinez-Beck, Nicole D. Forry, and Meagan McSwiggan
  2. How Well Do Our Measures of Quality Predict Child Outcomes? A Meta-Analysis and Coordinated Analysis of Data from Large-Scale Studies of Early Childhood Settings
    Margaret Burchinal, Kirsten Kainz, and Yaping Cai
  3. Empirical Approaches to Strengthening the Measurement of Quality: Issues in the Development and Use of Quality Measures in Research and Applied Settings
    Donna M. Bryant, Margaret Burchinal, and Martha Zaslow

Section II. Potential to Strengthen Measures of Quality in Specific Domains

  1. Advancing the Measurement of Quality for Early Childhood Programs that Support Early Language and Literacy Development
    Susan B. Neuman and Judith J. Carta
  2. Measuring the Quality of Early Childhood Math and Science Curricula and Teaching
    Kimberly Brenneman, Kimberly Boller, Sally Atkins-Burnett, Deborah Stipek, Nicole D. Forry, Barbrina B. Ertle, Lucia French, Herbert P. Ginsburg, Ellen Frede, and Thomas Schultz
  3. Measuring the Quality of Environmental Supports for Young Children’s Social and Emotional Competence
    Marilou Hyson, Jessica E. Vick Whittaker, Martha Zaslow, Deborah Leong, Elena Bodrova, Bridget K. Hamre, and Sheila Smith
  4. Measuring Health-Related Aspects of Quality in Early Childhood Settings
    Susan M. Hegland, Susan S. Aronson, Patricia Isbell, Sara Benjamin Neelon, Beth S. Rous, and Marilyn J. Krajicek
  5. Family-Sensitive Caregiving: A Key Component of Quality in Early Care and Education Arrangements
    Juliet Bromer, Diane Paulsell, Toni Porter, Julia R. Henly, Dawn Ramsburg, Roberta B. Weber, and Families and Quality Workgroup Members
  6. Measuring Culturally Responsive Early Care and Education
    Eva Marie Shivers and Kay Sanders, with T’Pring R. Westbrook

Section III. Cross-Cutting Issues

  1. Measuring Quality of ECE Programs for Children with Disabilities
    Donna Spiker, Kathleen M. Hebbeler, and Lauren R. Barton
  2. Defining and Measuring Quality in Early Childhood Practices that Promote Dual Language Learners’ Development and Learning
    Dina C. Castro, Linda M. Espinosa, and Mariela M. Páez
  3. The Whole Child, the Whole Setting: Toward Integrated Measures of Quality
    Suzanne M. Bouffard and Stephanie M. Jones
  4. Aligning Measures of Quality with Professional Development Goals and Goals for Children’s Development
    Robert C. Pianta, Bridget K. Hamre, and Jason Downer
  5. Beyond Classroom-Based Measures for Preschoolers: Addressing the Gaps in Measures for Home-Based Care and Care for Infants and Toddlers
    Heather Sandstrom, Shannon Moodie, and Tamara Halle

Section IV. Applications in Policy and Practice

  1. Measuring and Rating Quality: A State Perspective on the Demands for Quality Measurement in a Policy Context
    Deborah Swenson-Klatt and Kathryn Tout
  2. Data-Driven Decision Making in Preparation for Large-Scale Quality Rating System Implementation
    Kathy R. Thornburg, Denise Mauzy, Wayne A. Mayfield, Jacqueline S. Hawks, Amber Sparks, Judy A. Mumford, Teresa Foulkes, and Kathryn L. Fuger
  3. Differing Purposes for Measuring Quality in Early Childhood Settings: Aligning Purpose with Procedures
    Martha Zaslow, Kathryn Tout, and Tamara Halle

Conclusion Ending with a Beginning: Key Themes and Next Steps
Martha Zaslow, Tamara Halle, and Kathryn Tout

Index

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Reviews

: Young Children (NAEYC) - September 19, 2011
"The thoughtful and coherent summaries in this comprehensive volume provide invaluable insight toward understanding and strengthening this central component of our field."
W. Steven Barnett, Co-Director, National Institute for Early Education Research; Board of Governors Professor, Rutgers University - October 18, 2010
"No issue is more important for early childhood policy, practice, and research. No book provides a better guide to what we know and what we must learn about measuring quality. A must read for anyone concerned with improving early childhood policy and practice."
Kelly Maxwell, Associate Director and Research Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - October 11, 2010
"Brings together an incredible array of the best minds in early childhood to thoughtfully tackle one of the toughest issues of our time-measuring quality practices for young children."
Catherine Scott-Little, Associate Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, UNC-Greensboro - October 11, 2010
"A definitive 'go to' book for policy makers, researchers and anyone else charged with the task of measuring and/or improving the quality of early childhood programs."

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