This book explores international perspectives on quality improvement within the field of early childhood education and care. Many countries and governments are focusing on preschool quality as a way to improve entrenched inequalities and reduce social disadvantage and segregation: this book draws together various global case studies to showcase how different countries tackle aspects of quality improvement. The concept of quality is understood in different ways both culturally and contextually, and the implementation of measures to improve quality will differ from country to country. The book draws together case studies from numerous contexts to showcase various ways of working with aspects of quality improvement. Sharing important insights into policy and practice, this book guides a shared understanding of the complex nature of quality improvement within early childhood education and care.

Susanne Garvis is Professor and Chair of the Department of Education, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. She is a mixed methods researcher within early childhood education and works within early childhood teacher education and policy development around quality improvement.

Hillevi Lenz Taguchi is Professor of Child and Youth Studies and Early Childhood Education, Stockholm University, Sweden.  She focuses on praxis-oriented and action research, and has recent experience of leading the first intervention randomized control trial in Swedish preschool using brain-imaging data.

Introduction: International Perspectives on Quality Improvement in Early Childhood Education; Susanne Garvis& Hillevi Lenz Taguchi.- 1. Improving the Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care in Oman; Ali Kemal Tekin, Laila Al Salmi& Ibrahim Qaryouti.- 2. Enhancing quality for infants and toddlers through effective teaching practices: A New Zealand perspectiv; Karyn Aspden.- 3. Quality in ECE in Iran: what the concept "quality" mean and how it is being assessed, reported and improved; Ebrahim Talaee.- 4. Perspectives on Quality in ECEC - A content Analysis on First Year Teacher Students Views in Finland; Marina Lundkvist& Heidi Harju-Luukkainen.- 5. Developmental work (Norwegian Utviklingsarbeid) as student driven quality improvements in ECEC settings; Alicja R. Sadownik.- 6. Quality monitoring in daycare centers discourses, concepts and experiences in German early childhood education and care; Stefan Faas& Sabine Dahlheimer.- 7. Development of preschool teachers competences as a way to increase the ECE quality in Russia; Igor Shiyan, Olga Shiyan& Tatiana Le-van.- 8. Quantity vs. Quality Improvement in Early Childhood Education and Care in The Context of Turkey; Belkis Tekman.- 9.Continuous Improvement in Early Childhood Pedagogical Practice The Victorian Advancing Early Learning (VAEL) Study in Australia; Patricia Eadie& Jane Page.- 10. Neuroscientific approaches to optimize self-regulatory skills in children from backgrounds of poverty in different cultural contexts in Argentina and the United States; Sebastián Lipina& Eric Pakulak.- 11. Quality improvement in Sweden; Susanne Garvis, Pia Williams& Sonja Sheridan.- 12. Evaluating quality in Finnish early childhood education; Johanna Heikka& Elina Fonsen Quality assessment and challenge of preschool education in China; Yan ZhangConclusion: What can we learn looking across the countries?