Child care quality: A model for examining relevant variables

Abstract

Child care research has progressed over the past several decades to a level of sophistication and depth that begins to give some answers to the question, “what is the impact of child care on young children?” This paper provides a model within which this complex body of literature can be viewed and presents a comprehensive review of the literature. The Child Care Quality Model, based on ecological theory, helps to organize and conceptualize the relationship among the salient components of the child care research literature. Central to the model is the relationship of child care quality to child outcomes. In addition, both proximal and distal influencing variables are considered.The examination of the literature expands on these aspects of the model by first reviewing the elements of structural and process quality, and how these are measured. It then considers studies that report the impact of child care on child outcomes in social, behavioral/emotional, and cognitive/language development. Research that focuses on additional influencing factors, which interact with child care to impact child outcomes, are also reviewed. These include proximal variables such as family characteristics, child characteristics, and program characteristics, and more distal community and societal variables, including child care licensing standards. A summary synthesizes the literature in the context of the Child Care Quality Model, and points out some of the gaps in the current level of understanding of how child care influences young children.

Citation

Essa, E.L. and Burnham, M.M. (2001), "Child care quality: A model for examining relevant variables", Reifel, S. and Brown, M.H. (Ed.) Early Education and Care, and Reconceptualizing Play (Advances in Early Education and Day Care, Vol. 11), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 59-113. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0270-4021(01)80005-7