Investing in Quality

06/21/2007

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
Anne Frank

In March 2007, the Province of Ontario, Canada, released “Investing in Quality,” the government’s framework to ensure exemplary practices in early learning and care settings. Interested readers can access the report by visiting www.children.gov.on.ca/NR/CS/Publications/QHRReport_en.pdf. This report is the work of an expert panel on quality and human resources in early learning settings.

The panel focused on four points:

Policies and related issues (e.g., funding; infrastructure)
Education and professional opportunities
Program delivery
Parents as partners

The panel writes: “… it will not be enough to establish a College of Early Childhood Educators and a recruitment campaign, if the system does not address the fundamental issue of wages and working conditions. It will not be enough to set quality standards, if the system is not funded at a level to support quality. It will not be enough to increase education requirements for practitioners without providing appropriate education programs and accessible, meaningful opportunities for professional development. It will not be enough to upgrade practitioner qualifications if practitioners do not have the resources, learning environments and supports they need to deliver high quality, inclusive, evidence-based programs” (Investing in Quality: Policies, Practitioners, Programs, Parents, p. 11)… bold statements and great work.

Contributed by Laurie McNelles – Mothercraft

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