Preschool teachers and staff completed questionnaires for 58 preschool children. Ratings for overall ability, verbal and quantitative skills, perceptual performance skills as well as likability and sociability were obtained. The pooled ratings were correlated with McCarthy Scale scores for the children. Very strong (r>.63) correlations were found between teachers' estimates and the children's McCarthy scores. No significant correlations were found between likability or sociability estimates and the child's McCarthy scores. A mild correlation (r=.29) was found between teachers' estimates of sociability and their overall estimate of ability, while no significant correlation was found between likability estimates and overall ability estimates. In general, it appears that preschool teachers can provide reasonable estimates of children's cognitive skills without undue bias from non-academic sources.

All professions have a written knowledge base which serves to help the practitioner understand how, when and why to use certain interventions. While child care workers are dedicated to supporting and protecting their child clients, there is little discussion in the literature concerning how to implement brief physical restraint in emergency circumstances. This article offers methods of physical involvement designed to enhance the safety and security of children and staff.

This paper describes the development and results of a community college's efforts to provide competency-based training for persons employed in day care and similar early childhood programs. The results of this program in preparing child care personnel to meet national norms of competent care-giving are reviewed.

Twelve emotionally disturbed children housed together in one dorm area of a residential treatment center were observed during recreation and discussions. Aggressive behavior was noted during competitive, semi-competitive and non-competitive recreation. The recreation was followed by discussions which were designed to help children express their feelings about the prior recreation. During the discussions the interactions of the children were observed and the frequencies of productive behaviors were recorded. More aggression was found during competitive recreation than during the other two types. There was also more productive behavior after non-competitive recreation than after semi-competitive recreation. These findings suggest that non-competitive recreation may enhance cooperative behavior in emotionally disturbed children. There was also a sex by type of aggression interaction with the girls expressing more verbal than physical aggression, and the boys showing no difference in the two types.

This paper describes the Conference-Research Sequence in Child Care Education, a three-year project funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and sponsored by the child development and Child Care Program, School of Health Related Professions, University of Pittsburgh. It includes annotated listings of the background papers prepared for the initial conference and a discussion of planned outcomes of the project.

This paper deals with the structures through which day care training is currently provided, and describes the effect of licensing requirements and certification on training, the traditional and nontraditional training structures, and some of the limitations and prospects for incorporating day care training into a more broadly based system of child care education.

A study of the Child Development Associate (CDA) assessment/credential system compared credentialed and noncredentialed child care staff using a written test, interviews, and competence ratings. Two states' child care regulations were also compared. The results are discussed in terms of the CDA assessment's accuracy and the credential's contribution to career development.

Phencyclidine (PCP) or ‘Angel Dust’, fast becoming the popular drug of this decade, presents a potential threat to institutional populations. To prepare for this possibility, the authors present the objective and subjective effects of the drug and make recommendations for dose specific interventions.

The nature of professionalism is explored as it applies to the child care worker's search for professional status. Child care workers are advised to keep in mind as they demand better working conditions that true professionalism requires much more than forming a trade association or a bargaining unit, so that the process of becoming a true profession may not be sidetracked or delayed.