A qualitative examination of the implementation of continuity of care: An organizational learning perspective

• It is important to highlight the experiences of programs who successfully implement continuity of care.
• Senge's model of organizational learning (1990, 2006) is used to describe how one center implements continuity of care.
• Leadership, hiring practices, professional development opportunities, mentoring, and reflective practice are key operational processes that support continuity of care.
• Findings are situated withing the current discourse on how the field can ensure that practices supported by theory and research.

Both research and theory stress the importance of continuity of care for supporting and nurturing the important relationship between teachers and children in early care and education (ECE) settings. However, due to the predominance of enrolling children in age-based ECE classrooms, as well as the lack of practical information about how such an approach is implemented, it is important to highlight the experiences of programs who successfully implement this practice. We share the results of a qualitative case study to describe how one center transitioned to the implementation of continuity of care and overcame obstacles commonly associated with this practice by examining the experiences and perceptions of teachers, administrators, and parents. Data included phenomenological interviews and parent focus groups. Senge's model of learning organizations (1990, 2006) was used to make sense of the context under investigation, giving meaning to the data and providing a cogent framework to explicate findings. Data analysis also highlighted operational processes that contributed to the center's success, and findings are situated within the current discourse on how the field can ensure that practices supported by theory and research are implemented in programs serving young children and their families.