The National Quality Standard (or NQS) is the benchmark for the quality of Early Childhood Education & Care in Australia (part of the National Quality Framework (NQF)). [1] [2]
The National Quality Standard aims to promote:
The National Quality Standard (NQS) is a key aspect of the NQF. The NQS consists of seven quality areas, each containing standards and elements, that children's education and care services are assessed and rated against.
The seven quality areas covered by the National Quality Standard are:
Education in Australia encompasses the sectors of early childhood education (preschool) and primary education, followed by secondary education, and finally tertiary education, which includes higher education and vocational education. Regulation and funding of education is primarily the responsibility of the States and territories; however, the Australian Government also plays a funding role.
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), child care typically refers to the care provided by caregivers that are not the child's parents. Child care is a broad topic that covers a wide spectrum of professionals, institutions, contexts, activities, and social and cultural conventions. Early child care is an equally important and often overlooked component of child's developments.
A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school. It may be publicly or privately operated, and may be subsidized from public funds.
Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of education theory that relates to the teaching of children from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is up to the equivalent of third grade. ECE is described as an important period in child development.
The Early Childhood Education Act is the name of various landmark laws passed by the United States Congress outlining federal programs and funding for childhood education from pre-school through kindergarten. The first such act was introduced in the United States House of Representatives by Congresswoman Patsy Mink of Hawaiʻi in the 1960s. The theory behind the act is that the years before a child reaches kindergarten are the most critical to influence learning. Many children do not have access to early education before entering kindergarten. The goal of the act is to provide a comprehensive set of services for children from birth until they enter kindergarten.
The Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) is a vocational education provider in Australia's capital city Canberra, the city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory. CIT is the largest Technical and Further Education (TAFE) in the Australian Capital Territory. Qualifications offered by CIT range from certificate to degree level. CIT has campuses across Canberra, located in Bruce, Reid, and Fyshwick. CIT also has two learning centres in Tuggeranong Town Centre and Gungahlin which are primarily for students studying via flexible or distance learning. CIT provides a wide range of education and training courses that focus on the skills and knowledge needed for the workplace and further study.
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), is one of six Bureaus within the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services located in Rockville, Maryland.
Camp Quality is an Australian non-governmental and non-profit organisation with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle and Brisbane, offering cancer support nationally. Camp Quality enhances the quality of life for children impacted by cancer and their families at every stage of the cancer experience. Camp Quality's programs and services are designed specifically for children aged up to 15 years, and their families, and help and bring positivity, fun and laughter back into their lives. In 2021 there were 9,108 kids and 4,114 families impacted by cancer registered for their programs and services.
The National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) was a non-profit organization based in Sydney, Australia, in operation between 1993 and 2011. The Council was funded by and accountable to the Australian Government and was responsible for administering Child Care Quality Assurance (CCQA) for the following children's services in Australia:
The Department of Education is a ministerial department of the Queensland Government responsible for the administration and quality of education in Queensland, Australia. The department is composed of two separate portfolios, Education Queensland and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). The department also encompasses the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, a separate statutory authority responsible for creating syllabuses, curriculums, and assessment.
The Early Years Learning Framework, together with the National Quality Standard, forms the policies around early childhood education in Australia.
The National Quality Framework (NQF) is part of the Australian Government's agenda for early childhood education and child care focused on providing Australian families with high-quality, accessible and affordable integrated early childhood education and child care. The NQF aims to raise quality and drive continuous improvement and consistency in education and care services through:
Community Early Learning Australia is a peak organisation for children's services in New South Wales, Australia. It was known as Community Child Care Co-operative (NSW) up until 2017. It is a not-for-profit organisation. Its stated goals are to "inform and inspire the early education and care sector, and influence government policy, practices and programs so children in NSW can access quality early education and care that meet the needs of their communities." As such, it advocates for early education and child care services in New South Wales.
The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) is an independent statutory authority that assists governments in implementing the National Quality Framework (NQF) for early childhood education and care throughout Australia. Established in 2012, the authority works with the federal, state and territory government departments to:
A qualifications framework is a formalized structure in which learning level descriptors and qualifications are used in order to understand learning outcomes. This allows for the ability to develop, assess and improve quality education in a number of contexts. Qualifications frameworks are typically found at the national, regional, and international level.
Child care indicators are sets of standards that act as indicators of quality child care. These standards are developed by governments, child care experts, pediatricians, and parent advocacy groups. This information is useful for parents who are seeking quality child care and for directors and staff working in child care settings for ensuring quality settings and programs.
Collette Tayler was an Australian academic and researcher whose worked influenced early childhood education policy. She held the Chair of Early Childhood Education and Care, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, at the University of Melbourne for ten years.
Educational management refers to the administration of the education system in which a group combines human and material resources to supervise, plan, strategise, and implement structures to execute an education system. Education is the equipping of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, habits, and attitudes with learning experiences. The education system is an ecosystem of professionals in educational institutions, such as government ministries, unions, statutory boards, agencies, and schools. The education system consists of political heads, principals, teaching staff, non-teaching staff, administrative personnel and other educational professionals working together to enrich and enhance. At all levels of the educational ecosystem, management is required; management involves the planning, organising, implementation, review, evaluation, and integration of an institution.
Jane Torr is an Australian academic in the fields of early childhood language and literacy development in home and early childhood education and care settings. She is an honorary associate in the department of educational studies at Macquarie University, where she has been teaching and researching for over 30 years. Torr’s research draws on systemic functional linguistic theory to explore the relationship between context and meaning in adult-child interactions, and the implications for children’s learning. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, as well as publications in professional journals.
Early childhood education in the United States relates to the teaching of children from birth up to the age of eight. The education services are delivered via preschools and kindergartens.