ED381270 PS023180
Title: Early Childhood Programs: Promoting the Development of Young
Children in Denmark, France, and Italy. Briefing Report to the Ranking
Minority Member, Subcommittee on Children and Families, Committee
on Labor and Human Resources, U.S. Senate.
Author Affiliation: General Accounting Office, Washington, DC. Health,
Education, and Human Services Div.(BBB31516)
Pages: 39
Publication Date: February 1995
Report No: GAO/HEHS-95-45BR
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC02 Plus Postage.
Availability: U.S. General Accounting Office, P.O. Box 6015, Gaithersburg,
MD 20884-6015 (first copy, free; additional copies are $2 each; orders
for 100 or more copies mailed to a single address are discounted 25%).
Language: English
Document Type: Legal/Legislative/Regulatory materials (090)
Geographic Source: U.S.; District of Columbia
Journal Announcement: RIEAUG1995
Government Level: Federal
In light of
proposed changes in federal support for early childhood programs
in the United States, this report provides an overview of the ways
in which Denmark, France, and Italy provide early childhood programs
to large numbers of children, promote high quality, and finance
such programs. It reports that among 4-year-olds, 76 percent in
Denmark and 100 percent in France attended public, center-based
early childhood programs in 1992, compared with about 55 percent
in the United States in 1990. In Italy in 1992, about 92 percent
of all children aged 3 to 5 attended early childhood programs, most
of which were public. Children in these three countries attended
programs that were accessible to parents because sliding fee scales
allowed children in families at every income level to participate
if their parents so desired and full-day services made programs
convenient for parents, especially those who worked. In addition,
early childhood programs in Denmark, Italy, and France had highly
trained and well-compensated teachers, low child-staff ratios, and
low teacher turnover. Three appendixes contain a list of early childhood
program sites visited, General Accounting Office (GAO) contact and
staff acknowledgements, and additional acknowledgements. (MDM)
Descriptors: *Access to Education; Cross Cultural Studies; *Educational
Quality; Faculty Mobility; Foreign Countries; Government Role; *National
Norms; National Surveys; *Preschool Education; *Preschool Evaluation;
Preschool Teachers; Program Costs; Teacher Education; Teacher Salaries;
Teacher Student Ratio
Identifiers: Denmark; France; Italy; United States
