Due to the quantum confinement effect, the glasses doped with size tunable II-VI quantum dots (QDs) have been widely investigated in the applications of optical filters and nonlinear optical devices. The optical properties of QDs in glasses mainly depend on the size, the surface states and the environment of the surrounding matrix of the QDs. The surface defects of CdSe QDs can be effectively passivated by increasing the Se/Cd ratio, realizing the intrinsic photoluminescence of CdSe QDs in glasses. By adjusting the heat-treatment condition, Zn ions can be incorporated into the surface of CdSe QDs and form CdSe/Cd1-xZnxSe core-shell structure, which almost quenched the defects emission and further improve the quantum efficiency. In addition, the quantum efficiency of CdS/ZnS core-shell structural QDs by situ synthesis in glasses even can reach 53%. The fabrication of light emitting diode (LED) and other small light emitting devices is becoming possible with the continuous improvement of the fluorescence efficiency of II-VI QDs doped glasses in fundamental study. To meet the practical needs, establishing the model of the surface passivation mechanism in the core-shell system and further improve the fluorescence efficiency of the QDs in glasses is the next work to be done.