The child care & early education glossary defines terms used to describe aspects of child care and early education practice and policy; the research glossary defines terms used in conducting social science and policy research, for example those describing methods, measurements, statistical procedures, and other aspects of research.
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA)
Federal legislation that was designed to move adults quickly and permanently into the workforce, promote family stability, and allocate greater flexibility to states in designing public-assistance programs. Signed in 1996, the Act instituted Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and supplanted the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training program (JOBS).
Play
Voluntary, intrinsically motivated activities commonly associated with pleasure and enjoyment, not for the purpose of meeting specific learning outcomes. Through play, young children engage and interact in the world around them, developing new Competencies across Developmental Domains. Types of play include dramatic/fantasy play, rough and tumble, and parallel and cooperative play, among others.
Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K)
Programs designed for three and four year olds that focus on School Readiness. Though sometimes used interchangeably with “Preschool” and "Nursery School," Pre-K programs are typically government funded and stipulate compliance with quality and accountability standards that exceed regulatory requirements for other types of early learning settings (e.g., by requiring specific advanced qualifications for teachers). Pre-K programs are commonly operated in conjunction with public school districts, but also exist in various early education settings. See related: Mixed Delivery Systems.
Pre-Service Education/Training
The education, training and/or professional experiences that a child care staff member may undergo prior to assuming a particular role or position within a child care program.
Preschool
Programs that provide early education and care to children before they enter kindergarten, typically from ages 2.5-5 years. Preschools may be publicly or privately operated and may receive public funds.
Preschool Development Grant (PDG)
A program authorized by the ESSA of 2015 that provides competitive grants, managed jointly by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education, for states to improve coordination, Quality, and Access to early childhood education for low- and moderate-income children from birth to age five. The ESSA’s Preschool Development Grants (PDG) are also geared towards increasing Parent Choice and supporting high need and rural communities. ESSA's PDG succeeded the U.S. Department of Education’s prior Preschool Development Grant Program, which provided 2 years of funding for a select number of states to expand access to high-quality Pre-k for four year olds from low-income backgrounds.
Process Quality
Refers to the features of an early childhood setting related to caregiver-child interactions that affect children's development. Compare with: Global Quality; Structural Quality.
Professional Development (PD)
Refers to a continuum of learning and support activities designed to prepare individuals for work with, and on behalf of, young children and their families, as well as ongoing experiences to enhance this work. Professional development encompasses education, training, and Technical Assistance (TA), which leads to improvements in the knowledge, skills, practices, and dispositions of early education professionals.
Protective Factors
Refers to characteristics that reduce the impact of Risk Factors on children's learning and development. Protective factors can exist at the family, child and community level, such as attending high quality early childhood programs and having strong Family Engagement.
Quality
The characteristics of learning environments that promote the physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of young children. High quality programs typically exceed state regulatory requirements, utilizing Developmentally Appropriate curricula and prioritizing adequate teacher and administrative qualifications, ongoing Professional Development, and Family Engagement strategies, among others qualities.