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Not only does this book offer a great deal of insight into evaluating early childhood services, it also provides a focal point for those interested in establishing goals, objectives and evaluation criteria for their own early childhood programmes′ - Early Years `Quality′ has become a priority issue for all concerned with early childhood care and education services. Starting from the premise that `quality′ is a relative and dynamic concept based on values and beliefs, Valuing Quality in Early Childhood Services examines how the definitions of quality are established and who is involved in their establishment. The book advocates that the process should involve a range of stakeholder group.

Africa's Future, Africa's Challenge compiles the latest data and viewpoints on the state of Sub-Saharan Africa's children. Topics covered include the rationale for investing in young children, policy trends in early childhood development (ECD), historical perspectives of ECD in Sub-Saharan Africa including indigenous approaches, new threats from HIV/AIDS, and the importance of fathers in children's lives. The book also addresses policy development and ECD implementation issues; presents the ECD programming experience in several countries, highlighting best practices and challenges; and evaluates the impact of ECD programs in a number of countries.

This retrospective study of 535 households with 8-year-old children focuses on factors that can influence age-appropriate school entry and subsequent grade-level progression. The households included in this research are from a peri-urban community near Kampala, Uganda. Data were collected mainly from primary caregivers. The study examined the influence of family variables, home environment, stressful life events, and exposure to early childhood development (ECD) services on both age at school entry and educational grade level. Given the relative lack of African studies of this size and nature, descriptive and correlational analyses, as well as a regression analyses, are included in the findings. From the regression analyses, three major findings emerge. First, family structure (intact vs. other) and educational level of the caregiver are important variables in predicting children’s enrolment in ECD, age of entry into school, and grade level in school. Second, whether the child attended ECD or not, the child’s age at ECD enrolment, and the type of ECD attended are significantly related to school attendance, that is, if currently in or out of school and grade level achieved in school. Third, stressful life events in the household are significantly related to the grade-level progression of children in school.

The Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU) is an innovative, accredited, internationally recognized program that is based at the School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, in British Columbia, Canada. While the operation's core base is small, the virtual university's network and its impact are global. It works to enhance children's well-being by delivering university-level programs for leadership development that build country-level leadership for improving the lives of children and families. Nominees to participate in this program are selected from government ministries, international agencies, local and international NGOs, and educational institutions. This article describes the program, and quotations from participants speak to its impact in countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

`Not only does this book offer a great deal of insight into evaluating early childhood services, it also provides a focal point for those interested in establishing goals, objectives and evaluation criteria for their own early childhood programmes' - Early Years `Quality' has become a priority issue for all concerned with early childhood care and education services. Starting from the premise that `quality' is a relative and dynamic concept based on values and beliefs,Valuing Quality in Early Childhood Servicesexamines how the definitions of quality are established and who is involved in their establishment. The book advocates that the process should involve a range of stakeholder groups, including children, parents, staff, care providers, researchers, employers and the community. A key issue that emerges is the need for new and creative approaches to the development of an inclusionary process in the definitions and attainment of quality care.

In this reflective piece, the author shares his learning over the years through his involvement with cross-cultural partnerships, highlighting the importance of \"not knowing\" to create a space for creative work to flourish. 13 References. Adapted from the source document.