Facts In Action

Within the early care and education field, quality is measured by both process features (such as caregiver sensitivity and responsiveness) as well as structural features (such as caregiver training/education and child-staff ratios). The interaction between these two types of features, and how they together affect child outcomes, is rarely studied.

A new study by the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network examined the interaction between structural features, process features, and child outcomes. Researchers looked at the relationship between child outcomes, caregivers' interactions with children, and the quality of the classroom setting, as well as child outcomes, caregivers' training, and child-staff ratios. The study found that better training and smaller child-staff ratios lead to better, as well as more, interactions between children and adults, which in turn lead to improvement in children's cognitive and social outcomes.

The study is the first to provide a link between certain characteristics of child care that are regulated by states and improved outcomes in children, supporting policies that improve regulations and standards for child care workers. In addition, the researchers suggest that such improvements could help ensure access to high-quality programs for children from low-income families who stand to gain the most from high-quality care in terms of their development.

Source:
"Child-Care Structure to Process to Outcome: Direct and Indirect Effects of Child-Care Quality on Young Children's Development", NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, Psychological Science, Volume 13, Number 3, May 2002.

Facts in Action, June 2002