NAEYC–QualityBenchmarkforCulturalCompetenceProject.pdfVIP

Quality Benchmark for Cultural Competence Project The conversation concerning the importance of high-quality early childhood education has grown more complex – encompassing not only defining the determinants of program quality but also linking these determinants to child outcomes. Research has linked high-quality early childhood education to “better cognitive function and language development” for young children - and in later years higher rates of attendance at a four-year college, and higher rates of employment (Ramey et al. 1999, 2; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 2006, 1). An important piece of the quality conversation continues to be not only what determines program quality but how to increase the supply of high- quality early childhood programs. After observing settings for children 3 and under, the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development Early Childhood Research Network found that the majority of the programs were only of fair quality and that only 9 percent of programs were of excellent quality (Vandell Pierce 2003). Another study rates the majority of care for older preschoolers of only medium quality (Vandell Pierce 2003). If demographics are considered, the link between the need for high- quality early childhood programs and efforts to increase the supply becomes clearer. In 2001, approximately 12 million children between birth and age 6, who were not yet in kindergarten, were receiving care and education services from someone other than their parents. This number represents roughly 61 percent of the children in this age group – 23.4 million children (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics 2005, Capps, et. al. 2004, 5). Over the past decade, the United States has seen not only an increase in the number of children served in early childhood programs but an increase in the cultural and linguistic diversity of the staff who work in and the children and families served by these programs. Th