Across countries, there are important differences related to the goals, organization, and educational philosophies of care provided to young children prior to formal schooling. Those differences are likely reflected in the classroom practices and teacher-child interactions within a country’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) classrooms. This study aims to evaluate the within-country relevance of two classroom observation measures primarily based on a behavioral count approach focused on teacher and child behaviors; and to examine preschool practices in Sweden, Portugal, and the U.S., as they reflect each country’s ECEC goals, organization, and educational philosophies. Participants are 78 preschool settings in Sweden, 42 in Portugal, and 168 in the U.S. Results show that the measures targeted culturally-relevant behaviors and provided inter-rater reliability for the behavior count variables in the three countries. Future collaborations may address additional culturally-specific variables. The behavioral descriptions yielded by combining behavioral counts of the measures are analyzed by researchers from the relevant country for insights to the country’s values related to early childhood as well as current debates regarding care for children. Measures that provide comprehensive descriptions of classroom settings and apply minimal external or comparative value judgments on the behaviors observed are of practical utility for collaborative international work.

在各个国家/地区，与正规教育之前为幼儿提供的照护目标，组织和教育理念存在重要差异。这些差异可能反映在一个国家的幼儿教育和护理（ECEC）教室内的教室实践和师生互动中。本研究旨在评估两种课堂观察措施在国内的相关性，主要是基于针对教师和儿童行为的行为计数方法。并考察瑞典，葡萄牙和美国的学前班实践，因为它们反映了每个国家的ECEC目标，组织和教育理念。参加者有瑞典的78个学前班，葡萄牙的42个学区和美国的168个 结果表明，这些措施针对的是与文化相关的行为，并为三个国家的行为计数变量提供了评估者之间的信度。未来的合作可能会解决其他文化特定的变量。有关国家的研究人员分析了结合措施的行为计数得出的行为描述，以了解该国与幼儿期有关的价值观，以及有关儿童照料的最新辩论。提供对教室环境的全面描述并且对观察到的行为进行最小的外部或比较价值判断的措施对于国际合作是实用的。未来的合作可能会解决其他文化特定的变量。有关国家的研究人员分析了结合措施的行为计数得出的行为描述，以了解该国与幼儿期有关的价值观，以及有关儿童照料的最新辩论。提供对教室环境的全面描述并且对观察到的行为进行最小的外部或比较价值判断的措施对于国际合作是实用的。未来的合作可能会解决其他文化特定的变量。有关国家的研究人员分析了结合措施的行为计数得出的行为描述，以了解该国与幼儿期有关的价值观，以及有关儿童照料的最新辩论。提供对教室环境的全面描述并且对观察到的行为进行最小的外部或比较价值判断的措施对于国际合作是实用的。