A large sample (1090) of randomly selected early childhood education professionals and government officials rated each of the 133 standards of A Model for Institutional Accreditation for Early Childhood Education and Care(Yang, 1999) on a scale of 1 (...
A large sample (1090) of randomly selected early childhood education professionals and government officials rated each of the 133 standards of A Model for Institutional Accreditation for Early Childhood Education and Care(Yang, 1999) on a scale of 1 (least important) to 5 (most important). Findings were that all kindergartens and child care centers should be evaluated for accreditation every 3 years with 3-6 months for self-study and on-site validation visits by representatives of the appropritates agencies for 1-2 days. Evaluation results are should be used by institution personnel as a guide to self-supervision, by government officials as a funding standard and by parents as criteria of program quality. Essential accreditation standards included: facilities and equipment; curriculum; nutrition, health and safety; administration and management; and support systems. Safety and teacher-child interactions were most highly rated while parent involvement was not highly rated.