APA FORMAT & NO REFERENCE PAGE
In 2 paragraphs, discuss:
-What do you think is the difference between a licensed provider and a licensed, high-quality provider of infant/toddler education and care?
-Based on this week’s reading, what do you think are the 3 most important indicators of high quality education and care in an infant and toddler program? (See bottom reading)
-Provide at least 1 example from the materials or your own experiences to support each response.
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Part O ne
Part One: Background
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Introduction
This publication, Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Program Guidelines,presents information about how to provide high-quality early care and education, including recommendations for program poli- cies and day-to-day practices that will improve program services to all1 infants and toddlers (children from birth to thirty-six months of age). It contains vitally important information about early learning and development. With this publication the California Department of Education intends to provide a starting point for strengthening all programs that educate and care for infants and toddlers, including centers, family child care homes, and kith and kin care. The guidelines specifically address the concerns of program leaders, teachers, and family members. They also inform community organizations, policy-makers, business leaders,
1 Whenever infants, toddlers, or children are mentioned in this publication, the intention is to refer to all children. In some places the word all is used to emphasize the inclusive perspec- tive presented in this publication.
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and others interested in improving the care and education of California’s youngest children.
The guidelines pay particular attention to the role of the family in early care and education, to the inclusion of children with disabilities or other special needs, and to col- laboration between programs and families. Because high-quality programming cannot be attained without attention to these topics in all components of care, the topics are woven throughout the publication rather than treated separately. In addition, family child care and care by relatives are included in the main body of the guidelines and, when necessary for clar- ity, are addressed individually.
How great is the need for high-quality care?
Large numbers of infants all over the na- tion are spending long hours in early care and education settings, many of which are of poor quality. California reflects a national trend, suffering from a scarcity of both the quantity and the quality of infant/toddler programs. Over half (58 percent) of California’s infants and toddlers spend time in nonparental care. A quarter of them (26 percent) are in full-time care, defined as 35 or more hours per week (Snyder and Adams 2001). The demand for high-quality care overwhelms supply. This need is especially pronounced in low-income communities (Fuller and Holloway 2001), where few high-quality settings can be found. Statewide, only an estimated 5 percent of available spaces in licensed centers are for infant care (California Child Care Portfolio 2001).
The guidelines aim to increase the quality of programs that currently exist and provide a framework for the development of new high-quality programs. Increasing the number of high-quality settings will lead to a wide
range of benefits, including enhancing school readiness, offering safe havens from abuse and neglect, and providing appropriate services for children with disabilities or other special needs.
What does quality look like in an in- fant/toddler program?
Infants and toddlers thrive in places where they can feel secure, express their drive to learn, and build their competence. They rely on adults for nurturance and guidance as they learn. When infants and toddlers receive care in a relationship that consistently meets their physical and emotional needs, that relationship becomes a base for exploration and discovery. They learn from being in close relationships in many different ways during the first three years of life. For example:
• A three-month-old infant who is hungry or tired counts on a caring adult to read her cues and meet her needs.
• A teacher repeats a song or finger play af- ter a six-month-old looks into her eyes and coos, as if asking her to keep the experi- ence going.
• A teacher, noticing the interest of a thirteen-month-old who is pointing at a picture in a book, labels the picture for the child.
• A fifteen-month-old finds himself in a safe and interesting environment that has been organized by his caregiver, who is attuned to his developmental capabilities.
• A twenty-two-month-old with asthma and her family come to feel assured by the treatment of her teacher, who knows how to give medication and communicates regularly with the family about the child’s special health needs.
• A two-year-old whose family’s primary language is different from the teacher’s feels comforted when the teacher says one or two familiar words to her in her fami- ly’s language.
• A thirty-month-old, feeling frustrated or angry, learns that she can trust her teacher to help her with difficult feelings.
What program policies, practices, and professional development activities lead to high quality?
Program policies and practices that sup- port the development of positive relation- ships—in particular, relationships between teachers and families and teachers and chil- dren—provide the foundation for high-quality care and education. Some examples of policies and practices are as follows:
• Primary care • Small groups • Continuity of caregiving relationships • Safe, interesting, and developmentally
engaging environments and materials • Inclusion of children with disabilities or
other special needs • Curriculum that is responsive to individual
children’s interests, needs, and develop- mental abilities
The professional development of teachers also enhances program quality. Teachers de- velop professionally through education, study, experience, and ongoing communication with children’s families. Professional development can lead to changes in teachers’ perspectives and approaches in such ways as the following:
• Teachers learn how to be responsive to young children and to support their learn- ing and development.
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• Teachers learn the importance of being emotionally available to young children and their families and of interacting in sensitive, predictable ways.
• Teachers learn how to respond to individu- al interests, strengths, family experiences, and approaches to learning.
What does research say about the com- ponents and the importance of quality?
In the last two decades, many studies have identified the benefits of good-quality care for young children. A large-scale national study conducted by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD 1997) looked at home-based and center-based care. The NICHD researchers observed more than 600 nonmaternal child care settings of all kinds: grandparents, in-home care, child care homes, and centers. The NICHD study documented that safe, clean, stimulating en- vironments with small groups and low adult- to-child ratios were correlated with sensitive, responsive, and cognitively stimulating care. The research team reported that this higher quality of care, which included more positive language stimulation and interaction between the child and teacher, was positively related to the child’s (1) language abilities at fifteen, twenty-four, and thirty-six months of age; (2) cognitive development at age two; and (3) eventual school readiness (NICHD 2000).
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Another large-scale study, the Cost, Qual- ity, and Outcomes Study (1995), looked at nearly 400 child care centers in four states, including California. The researchers found that children who attended higher-quality child care centers had higher cognitive (for example, math and language abilities) and social skills (for example, better peer relations and fewer behavior problems) in early elementary school (Peisner-Feinberg and others 1999a).
Although dedicated teachers try to do what is good for children, unfortunately, research- ers have also found that many families with children under the age of thirty-six months do not have access to good or excellent care. Less than 10 percent of the centers that were originally studied in the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study (Peisner-Feinberg and others 1999b), including California programs, were judged to be of high quality. Rather than bene- fiting from early care, young children are often adversely affected by groups that are too big, by undesirable adult-to-child ratios, by teachers with little training, and by programs with low teacher pay and high teacher turnover.
What are the long-range benefits of high-quality programs?
James J. Heckman, a Nobel laureate in economic sciences, analyzed the impact of early experience on a person’s later success and concluded that society should invest in the very young. He states (2000, 3):
Learning starts in infancy, long before formal education begins, and continues throughout life. . . . Significantly, this is a time when human ability and motivation are shaped by families and non- institutional environments. Early learning begets later learning and early success breeds later success, just as early failure breeds later failure. Success or failure at this stage lays the founda- tion for success or failure in school, which in turn leads to success or failure in post-learning.
Heckman goes on to say that when one considers the long-term economic benefits of having a society of self-confident, motivated learners, no other period in life is more impor- tant.
Guided by research, practice, and the advice of experts, this publication identifies policies and practices that beget early learning and development and pave the way for later success. Making an investment in infants, tod- dlers, and families means making an invest- ment to support the preparation, continuing professional development, and appropriate compensation of infant care teachers.
Do infants and toddlers need teaching or caring?
Adults who care for infants and toddlers spend every moment both teaching and car- ing.2 In centers and family child care homes, early childhood professionals are simultane- ously caregivers and teachers, as their work affects infants’ health, safety, development, and learning. They attentively care for a child’s well-being as they discover ways to support the individual child’s curiosity and exploration. What to name this complex role is a challenge. This publication uses the term infant care teacher to emphasize the compre- hensive nature of providing care and facili- tating learning and development. Infant care teachers treat caregiving routines as learning opportunities for the infant and set the stage for learning by providing developmentally appropriate, safe, inclusive, and engaging learning environments. They also introduce materials, make comments, offer suggestions, and ask questions of children based on obser- vation and study of the children’s learning and development.
How are the infant/toddler guidelines linked to the CDE’s Desired Results system?
As stated earlier, the purpose of the guide- lines is to help programs improve the quality of the early care and education they provide. Improved quality in turn should lead to better outcomes for infants, toddlers, and their fami- lies. Progress in implementing these guide- lines is tracked and the outcomes of program improvement are documented through the California Department of Education’s com-
2 The word adult is used to describe the role of the adult, including a teenage parent who has taken on adult responsibili- ties as a parent.
prehensive assessment system called Desired Results for Children and Families. This system defines four general goals for children, includ- ing those with disabilities or other special needs, and two goals for families:
1. Children are personally and socially competent.
2. Children are effective learners.
3. Children show physical and motor competencies.
4. Children are safe and healthy.
5. Families support their children’s learning and development.
6. Families achieve their goals.
The Desired Results system consists of three components. Children’s developmental progress is first assessed through the California Department of Education’s Desired Results Developmental Profile-Re-
Teaching and Caring Occur Together from the Beginning of Life
Infants learn the rhythms of speech, gestures, social rules, and the meaning of facial expressions from adults during the first months of life. Every moment in which an adult provides care to a young infant is a moment rich with learning. Above all, young infants learn how people respond to their communication and behavior. For example, when an adult responds to a young infant who is crying because of hunger, the infant not only experiences the satisfaction of being fed but also learns that his crying will bring a response from an adult.
vised (DRDP-R). These profiles address the first four Desired Results for children and give a comprehensive picture of individual chil- dren’s learning and development. The DRDP- R provides a profile of each child across indicators such as self-concept, self-regula- tion, social interaction skills, language de- velopment, preliteracy knowledge and skills, cognitive development and problem solving, premathematics knowledge and skills, motor development, and awareness of health and safety. Then the program’s progress in meeting goals for families is assessed through a family interview form. A program gains insights from information reported by families on how well it is helping families support their children and achieve their goals. The third component of the Desired Results system focuses on program quality. Depending on the type of setting it is, a program periodically uses the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale, the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, or the Family Day Care Rating Scale to assess its quality.
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In addition to informing programs on how well they are implementing the guide- lines, the Desired Results system is an integral part of facilitating the learning and develop- ment of infants and toddlers. Programs use the DRDP-R to plan learning environments and experiences that fit children’s current level of development and provide an appropriate amount of challenge. Because the infant/tod- dler guidelines and Desired Results system work hand in hand, the link between them will be referenced throughout this publication.
How do the infant/toddler guidelines relate to the prekindergar- ten guidelines?
This publication is a companion to the Prekindergarten Learning and Develop- ment Guidelines published by the California Department of Education in 2000. The pre- kinder-garten guidelines describe high-qual- ity programming for preschools and make recommendations for curriculum and prac- tice. The infant/toddler guidelines resemble the format and approach of the prekindergar- ten guidelines. The infant/toddler guidelines were developed to link to the prekindergarten guidelines and focus on experiences that help young children make the transition to pre- school programs.
Although the overall approach of the two publications is similar, they are distinct due to differences between the two age groups. For example, this publication places the family at the center of programs for infants and toddlers since early development unfolds in the context of the family. By building a relationship with the family, infant/toddler programs take the first step in facilitating the child’s learning and development. In addition, because much of what children learn in the first months and years of life occurs during caregiving routines (greetings and departures, diaper changing, feeding, napping), the infant/toddler guide- lines pay close attention to everyday routine interactions. Preschool-age children still have much to learn about themselves, but they have already established a basic sense of identity. In contrast, identity formation is just starting for infants and toddlers. Their emerging sense of self, sense of belonging, and sense of confi- dence are intimately connected to their family and culture. The messages family members convey during interactions profoundly influ- ence how infants and toddlers feel about them- selves and what they expect from relationships with adults and children. Finally, this publica- tion necessarily places greater emphasis on health and safety considerations than do the prekindergarten guidelines. Because infants’ immune systems are still developing and they are beginning to learn to move their bodies, both the caregiving routines and the physical environment require special attention.
What do the infant/toddler guidelines offer?
The Infant/Toddler Learning and Devel- opment Program Guidelines is based on the field’s current understanding of young children during the first three years of life. Designed to encourage continuous improvement of programs, the guidelines offer a blueprint for early care and education. They focus on several areas:
• Research-based practice. This publica- tion summarizes research findings that can guide day-to-day decisions and practices when combined with information from the children’s families, from teachers’ ex-
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perience and education, and from special- ists supporting individual children.
• Relationships and experience. The guide- lines place relationships at the center of healthy learning and development. Each relationship—between child and teacher, the family and teacher, staff members and administration, and staff members and specialists supporting individual children and families—helps programs provide high-quality early care and education.
• Alignment of curriculum with children’s learning and development. In the guide- lines, curriculum is defined as a process. Teachers observe children, document their observations, assess children’s develop- mental progress, reflect on their observa- tions and assessments, discuss them with colleagues, and plan and introduce learn- ing experiences based on this process. By respecting children as active participants in learning, teachers create an environment of experiences that fit each child’s evolv- ing interests and abilities. The DRDP-R works hand in hand with this publication, offering a framework to teachers as they align curriculum with children’s learning and development.
• Professional development, reflective supervision, and reflective practice. The guidelines provide direction for ongoing professional development of teachers. An important part of professional develop- ment occurs when teachers reflect upon, or think about, day-to-day experiences with children and families as well as spend time
with supervisors reflecting on practice. Research indicates that having well-pre- pared staff is one of the key components of high-quality care and education. In settings with well-prepared teachers, all infants and toddlers have a wider range of language experiences, engage in more complex play with objects, and are more creative in solving problems and making discoveries (Howes 1997).
• Context. The guidelines take into account the impact of context on learning and development. A young child’s life is in- fluenced by everything—from the expres- sion on a teacher’s face to neighborhood sounds at night. Every moment of a child’s life is a learning experience. The context for learning and development includes the social, emotional, and physical world in which a child lives—all of which influ- ence a child’s daily experience in care and education, a family’s participation in the program, and a teacher’s ability tqVre- spond sensitively to a child’s strengths, needs, and interests.
How is this publication organized?
Part One summarizes the research and ideas supporting these guidelines. Four chap- ters make up Part One:
• Chapter 1 focuses on building relation- ships with families. This chapter describes how all infants and toddlers enter early care and education programs as newly
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developing members of families and com- munities. Important throughout childhood, the family’s involvement in the development and care of their child is intense during the infant/toddler years. This publication recognizes the family’s fundamental role by emphasizing a fam- ily-oriented approach to the care and education of infants and toddlers.
• Chapter 2 summarizes current research on early development, including brain development, that has shed new light on how to nurture infants and toddlers.
• Chapter 3 defines the role of the teacher. This chapter gives an overview of the teacher as a reflective practitioner who forms close, caring relationships with young children and their families and ex- plores ways to facilitate their learning and development.
• Chapter 4 describes program leadership and administration. Program leadership and administration are essential in all
settings—infant/toddler centers where a director often leads the program; a family child care home where the provider leads the program; or kith and kin care where the child’s relative or neighbor is respon- sible for both facilitating learning and at- tending to administrative responsibilities.
Part Two, divided into two chapters, pres- ents the guidelines. (See Appendix A for a summary of the guidelines.)
• Chapter 5 contains guidelines for operat- ing an infant/toddler program, including developing relationship-based policies and practices and maintaining a safe and healthy environment.
• Chapter 6 describes the curriculum pro- cess of facilitating learning for infants and toddlers, including children with disabili- ties or other special needs. Teachers, pro- gram leaders, and family members share important roles in responding to infants as active and motivated learners.
Both chapters open with a brief introduction. Each section begins with a rationale explain- ing why the guideline is important. Action points or recommendations are given for applying the guidelines in diverse child care settings. Desired Results and, when appli- cable, indicators from the DRDP-R are also identified for each of the guidelines.
Part Three lists resources on which the guidelines are based. Resources consist of research publications, curricula for infants and toddlers, and lists of relevant organizations.
From beginning to end, this publication invites teachers and program leaders to forge relationships with families and, together with families, create high-quality experiences for all infants and toddlers. Such experiences not only benefit children and families during the first three years but also influence their devel- opment throughout their lives.
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