International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy 

About: International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy is an academic journal published by SpringerOpen. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Early childhood education & Early childhood. It has an ISSN identifier of 1976-5681. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 196 publications have been published receiving 2320 citations. The journal is also known as: ICEP & International journal of child care and education policy.

Differential Susceptibility to Environmental Influences

Abstract: Evidence that adverse rearing environments exert negative effects particularly on children and adults presumed “vulnerable” for temperamental or genetic reasons may actually reflect something else: heightened susceptibility to the negative effects of risky environments and to the beneficial effects of supportive environments. Building on Belsky’s (1997, 2005; Belsky & Pluess, 2009) evolutionary-inspired differential susceptibility hypothesis stipulating that some individuals, including children, are more affected—both for better and for worse—by their environmental exposures and developmental experiences, recent research consistent with this claim is reviewed. It reveals that in many cases, including both observational field studies and experimental intervention ones, putatively vulnerable children and adults are especially susceptible to both positive and negative environmental effects. In addition to reviewing relevant evidence, unknowns in the differential-susceptibility equation are highlighted.

Universal and Targeted Approaches to Preschool Education in the United States

Abstract: In the United States, enrollments in preschool center-based programs have leveled off at about 75 percent of four-year-olds and 50 percent of three year olds. Nearly all government programs restrict eligibility to children in low-income families, and these families have substantially increased preschool participation rates as a result. However, in the last decade little progress was made toward increasing enrollments, despite increases in government spending, and less than half of children in poverty attend public programs even at age four. The average educational quality of private programs is quite low, and public programs are only modestly better. As a result, the educational effectiveness of preschool programs in the United States tends to be much weaker than that of the well-known programs research has shown be cost-effective. This paper considers whether publicly funded preschool education for all children would alleviate these problems. Universal public preschool education would reach many more children in poor and low-income families. For means-tested programs constantly changing incomes present a moving target, while the stigma associated with programs for the poor also limits participation. Program effectiveness would be at least as good in a universal program as in targeted program, and effectiveness might actually improve. One source of increased effectiveness is peer effects on learning. In addition, parents from higher-income families may be better advocates for quality, and political support for quality may be higher. Children from middle- and higher-income families also will benefit from high-quality publicly-subsidized preschool programs. A universal approach will cost more than current targeted programs, but moving from targeted to universal public preschool education is likely to produce benefits that far exceed the additional cost.

Early Childhood Education and Care in the United States: An Overview of the Current Policy Picture

Abstract: Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in the US includes a wide range of part-day, full-school-day, and full-work-day programs, under educational, social welfare, and commercial auspices, funded and delivered in a variety of ways in both the public and the private sectors, designed sometimes with an emphasis on the “care” component of ECEC and at other times with stress on “education” or with equal attention to both. Although ECEC scholars and advocates are increasingly convinced of the need to integrate all these program types, categorical funding coupled with diverse societal values continue to support the differences. The result is a fragmented ECEC system, of wide-ranging quality and with skewed access, but with some movement in recent years toward the integration of early childhood education and care.

From ‘Cinderella’ to ‘Beloved Princess’: the evolution of early childhood education policy in China

Abstract: Early childhood education (ECE) in China has been relegated to the role of ‘Cinderella’ by its educational authorities since 1980s, due to the policy of ‘marketizing and privatizing non-compulsory pre-school education’. In 2010, dramatically and suddenly, ‘Cinderella’ emerged as the ‘beloved princess’ as the central government of China decided to pay more attention to ECE. This paper aims to understand why and how the Chinese government changed its attitude and policies, by conducting a critical analysis of the evolution of ECE policies in the past century with a particular focus on the post- 2010 development. On the basis of this analysis, we offer our outlook on what the Chinese government should do to better deal with the future development of its ECE. Our results revealed three vertical and horizontal trends. First, from a vertical perspective, the top-down reform has been the most prevalent during the evolution of ECE policy in China. Second, from a horizontal perspective, the significance of public and private kindergartens can be ascertained by their numbers: the number of public kindergartens has decreased sharply since 1980s, while that of private kindergartens increased substantially as a supplement. Last but not the least, combining the vertical and horizontal perspectives, we found that accessibility, affordability and accountability problems, and the social justice and sustainability of the ECE system, are all realistic challenges imposed on the inevitable evolution of ECE reform in China. Yet, they also present equally considerable opportunities for establishing more efficient funding and monitoring reforms and policies.

Learning areas for holistic education: kindergarten teachers’ curriculum priorities, professional development needs, and beliefs

Abstract: Contemporary kindergarten curriculum frameworks emphasize the importance of promoting children’s holistic development, thereby focusing on both academic and non-academic learning areas. This exploratory study was conducted with a sample of 123 in-service kindergarten teachers in Singapore. The goals were to investigate the following: (1) how teachers prioritized the importance of the various learning areas of the ‘Nurturing Early Learners’ curriculum framework; (2) teachers’ professional development (PD) needs regarding these learning areas; and (3) the extent to which teachers with different beliefs about children and how they learn differed in their prioritizations and PD needs. Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analyzed using non-parametric techniques. Results indicated that (1) academic and non-academic areas were found to be intertwined in teachers’ priority rankings, although Social and Emotional Development was the top learning area for most teachers; (2) teachers reported high PD needs in all learning areas, especially in Discovery of the World and Aesthetics and Creative Expression; and (3) teachers holding more traditional beliefs tended to prioritize academic areas. No differences were found when comparing teachers’ responses according to their level of education, age, and years of teaching experience. We discuss the findings in light of prior literature, the implications and limitations of the study, and lines for further research.