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The present study examined the interactive effects of organizational resources on classroom quality of 90 Chinese kindergartens using principal and teacher questionnaires and observational ratings of classroom practices. The results revealed that the average monthly teacher salary, child-teacher ratio and instructional management had significant direct associations with classroom quality, and the three-year average fiscal funding had a significantly positive association with instructional management and significant indirect association with classroom quality via the mediation of instructional management. The findings suggested that the allocation and organization of resources for teachers and instructional management in support of teachers and teaching are important for improving classroom quality, and that kindergarten leaders play a critical role in effectively transforming available resources into quality classroom practices.

Compared with the former policies on early childhood education, the policies recently issued in mainland China clearly defined early childhood education as an integral part of education and social public welfare and stipulated the responsibilities of the government in its development, shifting the developmental orientation to promoting social equity. In implementing the new policies, the developmental goals that the local governments set appear divorced from reality, and the developmental paths collide with the current macro social and economic system. This means that the development mode that many local governments exploited is not sustainable. It is suggested that the government should design developmental goals according to actual conditions, reform the public revenue and tax system, and the ECE funding system and introduce a new way to provide public ECE service.

Research Findings: An effective quality rating system will lead to quality assurance and improvement of early childhood education programs. Many studies have been conducted to examine the validity of quality rating instruments in Western countries, but few have been done in China. The present study investigated the effectiveness of the Beijing Kindergarten Quality Rating System (BKQRS) by conducting onsite observations in 5 Demonstration, 5 R1C1, and 4 R2C2 kindergartens using the Chinese Kindergarten Environment Rating Scale (CKERS) as the criterion. Results indicated that none of the 3 types of kindergartens performed well on the CKERS. Although Demonstration and R1C1 kindergartens performed better than R2C2 kindergartens, there was no significant difference between Demonstration and R1C1 kindergartens. Results indicated that the BKQRS failed to gauge the quality levels of various kindergartens as accurately as was expected. Practice or Policy: Suggestions for improvement are discussed, and implications...

The kindergarten curriculum in mainland China has evolved through four periods and the current reform began in the end of 1980s. The reform aimed to transform kindergarten practice by shaping ideologies including respect for individual child, active learning, and play-based integrated curriculum. This review of research literatures shows that compared with the practice before the reform, many kindergarten teachers organize classrooms in learning centers, provide more play materials, pay time, and freedom for free play, and pay more attention to individuals. But indoor space organized in rice-seedling-bed model, teacher-led group instruction and teacher-controlled interactions are still often observed after three decades of reform efforts; there still exist great variations among kindergartens of different sponsoring bodies and in different regions. The problems resulted from the innate deficiencies of the top-down and value-priority reform, the conflicts between the advocated value and the traditional Chinese culture with emphasis on Ming-Fen, testing, and the value of children for the whole family and nation, and the unequal distribution of public resources decided by the educational institutions. Therefore, the curriculum reform is not a separate endeavor from other social changes, but a comprehensive and systematic change. To guarantee the success of the curriculum reform, the Chinese society needs cultural transformation and institutional reconstruction.