The study was an investigation of parental decision-making regarding preschool programs for their children. Data indicated that parents investigated a preschool program beyond a conversation with the preschool director and that non-educational aspects of preschool programs were important considerations in the selection of a preschool program by parents. Parents educational preferences tended to coincide with the educational programs of the preschools they selected, although parents indicated favorable opinions of more educational variables than any of the preschools surveyed offered. Levels of education attained by mothers appeared to have little effect on educational preferences, and parents whose first child was attending preschool had educational preferences similar to those of parents whose older children had attended preschool.

This study identified transition practices used by teachers and/or primary caregivers of infants and toddlers when entering child care programs across Dallas , TX . Participants completed the Program Entry Transition Practices Survey regarding their use of transition practices in fall 2003 and perceived barriers to entry transition practices. Results show frequency tallies, percentages of use for each transition practice, and the mean number of practices used for the entire sample and with the sample split according to participants from profit and non-profit programs. Results were also organized into four subscales based on the type of practice used. Results supported the hypothesis that teachers and caregivers would report more transition practices occurring after beginning care and directed towards a group than those occurring before beginning care and directed towards an individual. In response to the broader research question regarding barriers: Teachers and caregivers from profit and non-profit centers reported similar barriers to implementing transition practices.

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As the need for community care increases, complete and up-to-date information about organizational structure is crucial to making appropriate decisions about the expansion of adult day services. The absence of uniform national policies results in states and communities being relegated to balancing limited funds with the demand for adult day services, and in many areas, the lack of adult day care centers altogether. This study provides an overview of the types of state reimbursement, the availability of different funding sources, and the utilization of the sources in various states.