Starting Strong III - A Quality Toolbox for Early Childhood Education and Care

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Executive summary | Table of contents | Country policy profiles
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ISBN: 9789264123564
Publication: 10/01/2012

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) can bring a wide range of benefits – for children, parents and society at large. However, these benefits are conditional on “quality”. Expanding access to services without attention to quality will not deliver good outcomes for children or long-term productivity benefits for society.

This new publication focuses on quality issues: it aims to define quality and outlines five policy levers that can enhance it in ECEC. In addition, it provides busy policy makers with practical tools such as research briefs, international comparisons, country examples, self-reflection sheets, etc. in order to successfully implement these policy levers.

Executive summary

A growing body of research recognises that early childhood education and care (ECEC) brings a wide range of benefits, for example, better child well-being and learning outcomes as a foundation for lifelong learning; more equitable child outcomes and reduction of poverty; increased intergenerational social mobility; more female labour market participation; increased fertility rates; and better social and economic development for the society at large.

But all these benefits are conditional on “quality”. Expanding access to services without attention to quality will not deliver good outcomes for children or the longterm productivity benefits for society. Furthermore, research has shown that if quality is low, it can have long-lasting detrimental effects on child development, instead of bringing positive effects.

Complete executive summary

Table of contents

How to use the policy toolbox
Policy Lever 1: Setting out quality goals and regulations
Policy Lever 2: Designing and implementing curriculum and standards
Policy Lever 3: Improving workforce conditions, qualifications and training
Policy Lever 4: Engaging families and communities
Policy Lever 5: Advancing data collection, research and monitoring

Country policy profiles

Czech Republic
Finland
Japan
Korea
New Zealand
Norway
Portugal
Slovak Republic
Sweden
United Kingdom (England)

How to obtain this publication

Readers can access the full version of Starting Strong III - A Quality Toolbox for Early Childhood Education and Care choosing from the following options:

Subscribers and readers at subscribing institutions can access the online edition via iLibrary.
Non-subscribers can purchase the PDF e-book and/or paper copy via our Online Bookshop.
Order from your local distributor
Government officials with accounts (subscribe) can go to the "Books" tab on OLIS.
Access by password for accredited journalists

Related websites

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