Children who have traditionally been at risk for not doing well in school are affected more by the quality of childcare experiences than other children. The quality of childcare classroom practices was related to children's cognitive development, while the nature of the preschool teacher-child relationship influenced children's social development through the early school years. Greater levels of investment on the part of both public and private sectors in early childhood care and education programs are needed to provide high quality services to all children who need them. Childcare policies at both the federal and state levels should be revised to encourage higher quality programs. Childcare subsidy systems can be redesigned to provide incentives for providing high quality care.
Tax incentives can encourage use of higher quality care and education.
Training of teachers who work in early care and education settings must be improved. Contents do not necessarily represent the positions of policies of the National Institute of Early Childhood Development and Education, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, the U.S. Department of Education or any other sponsoring organization. Copyright 1999, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, University of Colorado Hospital. All rights reserved.