Personnel interviewing for quality child care

Child care directors' interest in hiring well-qualified staff has increased as issues related to insurance and liability, media-hyped occurrences of child abuse in day care, and quality of child care in general have become of greater concern. Thus, many directors are seeking and developing thorough and innovative methods for interviewing prospective employees (Leak, 1982; Neugebauer, 1982; Sciarra and Dorsey, 1990).Jan Allen is Associate Professor, and Carol Catron Director, Campus Child Care Programs, Department of Child and Family Studies, College of Human Ecology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN.     

Predictors of quality in family child care

This study of 231 regulated family child care providers proposed a theoretical model to explore the effects on quality of: (1) provider level of general education; (2) provider degree of intentionality; (3) provider training and experience in family child care; (4) provider use of support services; and (5) provider work environment. Hierarchical linear regressions confirmed the predictive power of the provider's degree of intentionality, level of education in early childhood education or a related discipline and use of support services. All these variables had a positive relationship with quality as measured by the Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS). Higher level of general education in any field was a predictor until a college or university credential in ECE or a related discipline was included in the model. None of family child care training, length of experience as a provider, or any of the variables in the work environment block emerged as predictors. The data also supported the proposed associations between intentionality and the use of support services, training and the use of both support services and the work environment, and the use of support services and the work environment. While not totally supported by the data, the proposed theoretical model has value as a framework for further research. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for governments.     

Measurement of quality in child care centers

Assessment of quality of care in 363 classrooms with infants, toddlers, and preschool children was conducted in 120 child care centers in three states with widely varying regulations. Three major process measures, InfantToddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS; Harms, Cryer & Clifford, 1987), Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS; Harms & Clifford, 1980), and the Assessment Profile for Early Childhood Programs (Abbott-Shim & Sibley, 1987) were included. Regulatable aspects of quality of child care included ratio of caregivers to children, group size, teacher training in child development or child care, teacher education, highest wage paid to a teacher in the center, and staff turnover. The goal of the study was to evaluate how well the quality of child care is measured by process and regulatable variables. For research purposes, the process measures proved to be highly redundant, both internally and with each other. Much smaller sets of items, drawn randomly from the instruments' item pools, were found to be perfectly acceptable measures of quality of care. Regulatable measures did not prove to be acceptable measures of quality care, except for teachers' wages, which were highly correlated with process measures of quality.     

Subsidized child care,maternal employment and access to quality,affordable child care

To examine whether state child care subsidy policies can combine goals of increasing maternal employment and increasing access to quality child care for children in low-income families, we studied one state's comprehensive policy, through a cross-sectional survey of 665 randomly selected families using centers, Head Starts, family child care homes, public school preschools or informal care, including a sample of families on the waitlist for child care subsidies. We found that, in Massachusetts, families receiving child care subsidies report greater access to child care, more affordable child care, and higher quality child care, than do similar families not receiving subsidies. Lower-income families not receiving subsidies can sometimes access affordable, quality child care through Head Start programs and public preschools, but, when they have to pay for care, they pay a significantly greater proportion of their income than do families receiving subsidies. We also found that families on the subsidy waitlist are at a particular disadvantage. Waitlist families have the greatest difficulty paying for care, the least access, and the poorest quality child care. While the child care subsidy policies benefited those families receiving subsidies, families outside the system still struggled to find and afford child care.     

Predictors of quality and child outcomes in family child care settings

Few studies have examined correlates of quality ratings in family child care arrangements. This study analyzes data from a multi-state sample of family child care providers actively seeking professional development for two purposes. First, we examine predictors of observed quality ratings focusing on characteristics of child care providers, the most proximal influences of quality in family child care. Second, we explore associations between three targets of professional development (providers’ attitudes, beliefs, and practices) and the pre-academic and social–emotional skills of preschool-aged children. Provider characteristics indicative of personal and professional resources and stress, as well as providers’ professional attitudes and beliefs, are predictive of observed quality measures. Observed quality and providers’ child-centered beliefs and perceptions of job demands are related to children's developmental outcomes. Implications for future research, policies, and practices are discussed.     

Parent-caregiver communication and quality of care in diverse child care settings

The relationship between parent-caregiver communication and child care quality was investigated in 12 child care centers representing different types of sponsorship. Perceptions of one-way (school to home communication), two-way (school and home communication exchanges), and three-way (exchanges between school, home, and a community resource) communication patterns were determined by questionnaire responses of 201 parents and 49 caregivers in 4 each of subsidized, contracted subsidized, and nonsubsidized child care settings. Compared to parents, caregivers rated all forms of parent-caregiver communication as more frequently occurring and as more important. Greater frequency of communication was associated with increased importance of communication for each mode. Frequency of parentcaregiver communication and quality of child care were positively correlated. Nonsubsidized private profit centers were of lower quality and respondents reported less frequent parent-caregiver communications than in contracted subsidized and subsidized programs.     

Child care licensing regulations and child care quality in four states

This study analyzed the child care rules and regulations from the four states that had previously been reviewed under the Child Care, Cost & Quality study. Child day care regulations for each of the states were analyzed through rubrics designed by the investigators in the domains of structure, operations, personnel, and context. A separate analysis was done comparing regulations for protecting the child versus regulations for enhancing child development. The four states were in general agreement in setting higher standards for child protection than for the enhancement of development. Such regulations support the image of child care programs being a “safe haven” rather than a “development enhancer.” The limited requirements for child care personnel and for community interaction also encourage that image. These minimum standards departed substantially from professional judgments about what is needed in child care settings. The authors proposed higher personnel standards, greater explicit emphasis on developmental enhancement, and more required interaction with parents and community contact.     

Providing medical evaluations for possible child maltreatment to children with special health care needs

OBJECTIVE: Children with special health care needs are known to be at increased risk of all forms of child maltreatment when compared to children without such needs. We describe a health care team's experience providing medical evaluations for suspected child maltreatment to children with special health care needs. METHOD: Consecutive cases seen as outpatients in the Abuse Referral Clinic for Children with Disabilities were abstracted and analyzed. Mail and telephone follow-up contact was attempted after the medical evaluation to determine adherence with treatment recommendations. A subsample of cases for which complete financial information was available was reviewed to determine a reimbursement rate. RESULTS: During the study, 49 children received complete outpatient evaluations. Ages ranged from 3 to 16 years old, and 54% were males. Special needs spanned a wide range of physical, developmental/cognitive and behavioral conditions. The largest number of referrals came from child protective services (42%) followed by referrals from physicians (27%). After the team's comprehensive evaluation, 18% of the children were found to have a history or physical examination that was diagnostic for child maltreatment, 13% were thought to be at high risk, 25% were thought to be at low risk and 44% were thought to have non-abusive etiologies. The collection rate was 14% for an average reimbursement of $38 per case. Only 29 caregivers could be found at follow-up and 22 remembered the recommendations made by the team. Of the 25 cases that were referred for outpatient mental health counseling, 12 (48%) complied. CONCLUSION: Children with a wide range of special health care needs were evaluated in an outpatient special health care needs clinic that offered comprehensive medical evaluations for possible child maltreatment. Medical evaluation services for this group of children were poorly reimbursed. Mental health services were frequently recommended but often not accessed. Child maltreatment teams seeking to serve children with special health care needs will need to plan for service delivery to a potentially diverse group of children and families who may experience difficulty in carrying through on the team's treatment recommendations.     

Diversity, child care quality, and developmental outcomes

It is widely accepted that high quality child care enhances children’s cognitive and social development, but some question whether what constitutes quality care depends on the child’s ethnic and cultural background. To address this question, secondary analysis of data from the two largest studies of child care experiences in the United States, Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study and the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, tested whether standard measures of child care quality were less reliable or valid for African-American and English-speaking Latino children than for white children. Widely used measures of child care quality showed comparably high levels of reliability and similar levels of validity for white, African-American, and Latino children. Analyses tested whether cognitive and social skills were related to child care quality, the match between child’s and caregiver’s ethnicity, and the match between the mother’s and caregiver’s beliefs about child-rearing. Results indicated children from all three ethnic groups showed higher levels of cognitive and social skills on standardized assessments shown to predict school success when caregivers were sensitive and stimulating. Children’s skills were not consistently related to whether the child’s and caregiver’s ethnicity matched or whether the mother’s and caregiver’s beliefs about child-rearing were similar. These two large studies suggest that children from all three ethnic groups benefit from sensitive and stimulating care on child outcomes related to school success. The results are interpreted as indicating that the global dimension of quality may be reflected in very different types of practices that reflect cultural differences.     

Caregivers of quality: One mother's search for child care

Too often, guidelines for quality child care emphasize the physical site, the equipment, safety, and the staff-child ratio. However, to ensure high-quality child care for our children, the personal and professional attributes of quality caregivers must be considered. The most important caregiver attributes are discussed, as one mother describes her search for child care.     

Assessing the quality of Portuguese child care programs for toddlers

The purpose of this study was to describe the quality of toddler child care classrooms in the district of Porto, in the north of Portugal. One hundred and sixty classrooms for children between 1 and 3 years of age participated in this study. Results suggested the existence of poor average quality and absence of good-quality classrooms. Child–adult ratio was a statistically significant predictor of overall child care quality (with lower ratios associated with higher quality). The results of this study provide information on the applicability of ITERS-R to a new cultural and linguistic context, suggesting the need to enhance the quality of Portuguese programs serving toddlers.     

Influence of structural features on Portuguese toddler child care quality

Whereas child care quality has been extensively studied in the U.S., there is much less information about the quality of child care in other countries. With one of the highest maternal employment rates in Europe, it is important to examine child care in Portugal. Thirty toddler classrooms in child care centers were observed. The purpose of this study was to determine whether structural features account for overall toddler child care quality. Results showed younger and better-paid teachers provided better toddler child care quality. Space available per child was not a statistically significant predictor of toddler child care quality. Overall quality results suggest some issues to be addressed by early education policy makers and indicate the need to promote quality in Portuguese toddler child care programs.     

The ups and downs of child care: Variations in child care quality and exposure across the early years

There is considerable policy interest in understanding the role of child care in children’s development. Yet little research has examined whether individual children experience changes in child care quality across their early years, and less has included children’s varying levels of exposure to care in analyses of child care trajectories. Using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care, this study seeks to fill these gaps by studying the non-maternal care experiences of children whose mothers work at some point during their early years. We find that few of these children experience continuously high-quality care or continuously low-quality care. Instead, many children experience changes in child care quality. Children from low socioeconomic status families are more likely to experience low-quality care than children who are never poor, but children who are never poor are more likely to have child care histories that include both low- and high-quality care arrangements. We discuss the implications of our findings for studies of selection into low-quality child care arrangements and the effects of child care quality on children’s development.     

Effects of a community initiative on the quality of child care

This study examined the effects of a broad-based community initiative (Smart Start) to improve the quality of child care for preschoolers. Data were collected in 1994 and 1996 from over 180 child care centers in 12 counties implementing the community initiative. The quality of child care, as measured by the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS; Harms & Clifford, 1980), was significantly higher in 1996 than 1994, both across the entire sample and across the subset of 91 centers observed in both years. The quality of child care in 1996 was significantly related to the number of local quality improvement activities in which the child care centers participated. This and additional evidence presented in the paper show that a comprehensive community initiative can improve child care quality if significant funds and activities are focused on the issue.     

Towards a predictive model of quality in Canadian child care centers

This paper reports on the design, methodology, and results of a study of quality in 326 classrooms in 239 Canadian child care centers. This study, the largest and most extensive ever undertaken in Canada, used the Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS) to rate the adult–child interactions in the classrooms and the Infant–Toddler Environment Rating Scale (ITERS) and the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) to measure the quality of classroom learning environments. The observed staff members completed questionnaires on wages, working conditions, and satisfaction levels, and the center directors also completed questionnaires on center operations and finances. Path analyses revealed that in the infant/toddler rooms the number of adults in the observed classroom and the education level of the observed staff member were direct predictors of quality. In addition, there were three indirect predictors: parent fees, adult:child ratio, and use of the center as a student teacher practicum site. There were five significant direct predictors in the preschool classrooms: wages, education level, number of staff in the observed room, staff satisfaction, and whether the center received free or subsidized rent or utilities. The three indirect predictors were auspice, adult:child ratio, and parent fees. The interaction of distal and proximal factors is interpreted and applied to the development and implementation of public policy initiatives that can provide much-needed improvement to the overall mediocre levels of child care quality in Canada.     

The prediction of process quality from structural features of child care

The purpose of this study was to identify structural characteristics of center child care that are associated with observed child care quality from a large multi-state project. Hierarchical regressions examined the relations between quality of care and selected characteristics of the lead caregiver, classroom, center, and director. Nonprofit and for-profit centers (228 infant/toddler and 521 preschool classrooms) were randomly sampled in four states. Interviews, questionnaires, and observations were used assess structural and process quality. Overall, process quality was higher in states with more stringent child care regulations, nonprofit centers, and preschool classrooms. In infant/toddler classrooms, process quality was higher in classrooms with moderately experienced and better paid teachers, and more experienced directors. In preschool classrooms, process quality was higher in classrooms with teachers with more education, a moderate amount of experience, and higher wages. The findings suggest the need to increase the stringency of state child care regulations and to rearrange the budgets of child care programs.     

Day care quality, family and child characteristics and socioemotional development

The study investigated effects of day care quality in interaction with child and family characteristics on socioemotional development concurrently at 29 months and longitudinally at 4 years. By international standards, the study was performed in high-quality day care settings and in a fairly homogeneous group of well-functioning families. In a group of 52 children (M day care EXPERIENCE = 12.6 months at the age of 29 months), main effects of day care quality and effects due to interactions between such quality and the background characteristics of SES, home environment quality, gender, and infant manageability were studied. Socioemotional development was studied both in terms of children's problems (externalizing and internalizing) and positive aspects of functioning (positive emotional expressions and ego strength/effectance). The results showed a main effect of day care quality on expressions of positive emotions, and interactive effects were demonstrated for several of the other indicators of socioemotional functioning. Compensatory effects of high-quality care on externalizing behaviors for children from less advantaged homes as well as positive effects on boys' internalizing problems and ego strength/effectance were among the findings. Thus, using culturally relevant measures of day care quality, clear influences can be demonstrated even in a culture with a fairly uniform and high standard of care.     

Relations among child care quality, teacher behavior, children's play activities, emotional security, and cognitive activity in child care

Eight hundred forty children (435 girls) enrolled in full-time, center-based child care participated in the study. Children ranged in age from 10 to 70 months. Sixty-six percent of the children were European American, the remainder African American. Children's play activities and cognitive activities as well as their relationships with caregivers were observed within the child care setting. The study tested the prediction that variation in children's cognitive activities could be directly and indirectly explained by child care quality, positive social interaction with teachers, and children's play activities and attachment security with their child care teachers. The prediction was examined and at least partially supported in eight subsamples of infant-toddler and preschool age European American and African American children in subsidized and nonsubsidized child care. Specifically, in seven of the eight subsamples, 15 to 30% of the variability in children's cognitive activities could be predicted from positive social interaction with teachers, attachment security, and participation in creative play activities.     

Does training make a difference to quality in family child care?

The purpose of this study was to determine which family child care providers seek training, which providers drop out of training, and the effects of training on the quality of care offered by providers. One-hundred thirty family child care providers in three communities who enrolled in Family-to-Family training participated in the study. A comparison group consisted of 112 regulated providers in those same communities who were not involved in the training program under investigation. Each provider was observed for 3 hrs, was interviewed, and completed questionnaires. Providers in training were observed prior to training and 6 months afterwards. Results revealed that providers who sought training were very similar to typical regulated providers. Providers who dropped out of training were less experienced and used fewer business and safety practices than providers who completed it. Training increased global quality in two out of three sites, but did not affect process quality. Of 95 providers, 18 made observable (as opposed to statistically significant) improvements in quality following training, and 9 decreased in quality. These data are interpreted with respect to family child care training policies and practices.