A diverse range of policies and practices are needed to promote quality assurance and improvement in early childhood education and care (ECEC) provision. These policies and practices need to be comprehensive, cover both structural and process aspects of quality and rely on strong institutions and data systems. They can satisfy the need for public accountability while also providing feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of individual services and the sector as a whole in order to inform further actions for improvement. Quality assurance and improvement policies are particularly important in the ECEC sector, which is often characterised by a “market approach” with a heavy reliance on private providers.
