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Twenty-two points, plus triple-word-score, plus fifty points for using all my letters. Game's over. I'm outta here.These are exciting times for us and for the profession of early childhood education and care. Not too many years ago, it would be difficult to find people who did not use the term babysitter to describe the care and teaching of young children in a group setting. Not too long ago, we could not even agree among ourselves what quality looked like or meant in the work we do.

But now, quality is part of our contemporary professional jargon. It is discussed at meetings and schools and other agencies which serve children and families. It has been defined, dissected, and deliberated upon in a variety of ways.

When we talk of quality today, we speak of ratios, group sizes, and configurations and room arrangements. We ponder qualifications of ...