This book investigates whether the former articulations accepted by the early childhood canon regarding definitions of quality, models of relationship outside the home, and peer relations in the child care context are accurate and relevant within the increasingly racially, linguistically, and ethnically diverse society of the United States. The contributing authors discuss the central questions from diverse perspectives and the totality challenge assumptions about long-standing notions pertaining to early care and education. Carollee Howes provides the theoretical framework for this volume in which child care is a cultural community unto itself and responsive teaching is the hallmark of quality in early care and education settings. Dr. Howes is scholarship in early childhood attachment relationships in preschool settings in the United States, peer relations, and child care quality influenced policy, advocacy, and research in early education. The remaining chapters, written by her former students or professional colleagues, provide analyses and discussion of previous research and/or present summaries of original work that contribute to our current understandings regarding the function of early education within the diverse context of the United States. Three central themes are highlighted by the chapters: Child care is an inequitable system divided by race/ethnicity and class; responsive teaching must be culturally responsive; and professionalization of the field is sorely needed for teachers to teach effectively and for early care and education programs to fulfill the promise of equity in education.