P
Parent Choice: Refers to families' ability to access Child Care Arrangements of their choosing. The term is often used to refer to the CCDF stipulation that parents receiving subsidies should be able to use all legal forms of care, even if a form of child care would be otherwise unregulated by the state.
Parent Involvement: Refers to active parent/family participation in a child's care and education. To increase parent involvement, child care providers will typically identify projects, needs, and goals and let parents know how they can contribute. Parental involvement is often measured by metrics related to attendance at school meetings, events and parent-teacher conferences; or by volunteering or serving on a school committee.
Parent Education: Instruction or information directed toward parents and families to increase effective parenting skills.
Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): A section of the IDEA that lays out the education and funding guidelines and requirements for children with disabilities from 3-21 years of age. Part B references requirements related to the Individualized Education Program (IEP).
Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): A section of the IDEA that lays out the educational and funding guidelines and requirements for children with disabilities from birth through 2 years of age. Part C references requirements related to the Individualized Family Services Plan (IFSP) and Early Intervention services.
Peer-to-Peer Technical Assistance (TA): A form of professional development in which early care and education professionals work together, often with supervision from a professional instructor, to improve their care-giving and educational practices.
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 int he 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.
Pre-Service Education/Training: The education, training and/or professional experiences that a child care staff member may undergo prior to assume 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 to 5 years. Preschools may be publicly or privately operated and may receive public funds.
Preschool Development Grants (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 PDG are also geared towards increasing parent choice and supporting high need and rural communities. ESSA's PDG succeeds the U.S. Department of Education's prior PGD 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.
Parent Involvement: Refers to active parent/family participation in a child's care and education. To increase parent involvement, child care providers will typically identify projects, needs, and goals and let parents know how they can contribute. Parental involvement is often measured by metrics related to attendance at school meetings, events and parent-teacher conferences; or by volunteering or serving on a school committee.
Parent Education: Instruction or information directed toward parents and families to increase effective parenting skills.
Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): A section of the IDEA that lays out the education and funding guidelines and requirements for children with disabilities from 3-21 years of age. Part B references requirements related to the Individualized Education Program (IEP).
Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): A section of the IDEA that lays out the educational and funding guidelines and requirements for children with disabilities from birth through 2 years of age. Part C references requirements related to the Individualized Family Services Plan (IFSP) and Early Intervention services.
Peer-to-Peer Technical Assistance (TA): A form of professional development in which early care and education professionals work together, often with supervision from a professional instructor, to improve their care-giving and educational practices.
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 int he 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.
Pre-Service Education/Training: The education, training and/or professional experiences that a child care staff member may undergo prior to assume 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 to 5 years. Preschools may be publicly or privately operated and may receive public funds.
Preschool Development Grants (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 PDG are also geared towards increasing parent choice and supporting high need and rural communities. ESSA's PDG succeeds the U.S. Department of Education's prior PGD 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.
