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The goal of NAEYC's National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development is to improve the quality of services provided to young children and their families by enhancing the quality, consistency, and accessibility of early childhood education professional preparation. In this compilation of presentations, key leaders offer their perspectives on achieving the Institute's goal of an articulated professional development system, represented by the early childhood career lattice. The first article presents the conceptual framework for this professional development system and outlines the official position of NAEYC. The remaining articles are the opinions of the authors and are presented in four parts. Part 1 indicates the different kinds of programs from which early childhood educators enter their careers and the resulting inequities in status, differences in standards for programs and practitioners, various program delivery mechanisms, and lack of consensus on cherished values. Part 2 opens with five descriptions of various components of the profession's core knowledge and emphasizes the need for specialized professional development options that build on this knowledge. Also included are articles that discuss the knowledge base for the Baccalaureate Early Childhood Teacher Education Program and a contextual model to promote professionalism in early childhood education and care. Effective strategies that can improve the day-to-day skills of professionals who are engaged in fostering each other's learning are explored in part 3. The volume concludes with practical and policy implications of this vision of a coordinated professional development system and shifts the focus to financing for professional development and compensation of early childhood staff. (BAC)