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9 - Professional Development Issues in Universal Prekindergarten

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Edward Zigler ,
Walter S. Gilliam  and
Stephanie M. Jones
By
Kelly L. Maxwell  and
Richard M. Clifford
Edward Zigler
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Walter S. Gilliam
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Stephanie M. Jones
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Kelly L. Maxwell
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina
Richard M. Clifford
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina
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Summary

The term “prekindergarten” is used in this chapter to refer to the set of educational programs serving three- and four-year-old children that are part of a formal state initiative. The programs may be housed in public schools, Head Start classrooms, or community-based child care centers. Approximately 2.6 million, or 69 percent of four-year-olds in the United States receive care and education in a center-based program (West, Denton, & Germino-Hausken, 2000). Almost 1 million of them are in school-affiliated prekindergarten programs (Clifford, Early, & Hills, 1999).

Attention to the quality of these programs for young children has grown. Experts cite a growing consensus that children benefit from – and should receive – early education experiences in a caring environment (Bowman, Donovan, & Burns, 2001). Studies of intensive early intervention programs such as the Abecedarian Project; Campbell & Ramey, 1994; Ramey & Campbell, 1984), the Perry Preschool Project (;Schweinhart, Barnes, Weikart, Barnett, & Epstein, 1993), and the Chicago Child-Parent Centers (Reynolds, 1994; Reynolds, Temple, Robertson, & Mann, 2001) have shown the long-term positive effects of high-quality early care and education for children at risk for school failure. (See also Reynolds & Temple, Chapter 3.) Research also has shown that children who attend higher-quality community-based child care centers have better academic and social outcomes than do children who attend lower-quality programs (Burchinal et al., 2000; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2000; Peisner-Feinberg & Burchinal, 1997; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2001).

Type
Chapter
Information
A Vision for Universal Preschool Education , pp. 169 - 193
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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