Family child care provider beliefs and program quality: A longitudinal study investigating the role of consultation

Abstract

Considering the large numbers of young children being cared for in family child care programs and acknowledging the general lack of regulations and supports for these homebased providers, an examination of factors influencing the quality of care children experiences in these settings is imperative. The present studies examine the relations among structural indicators often association with quality, providers’ beliefs about best practices with young children and beliefs about professional motivation, job-related stress, and observed quality in family child care programs. Interviews were used to gather data about provider beliefs and program structural characteristics. In addition, observational data about the global process quality and the quality of adult-child interactions were collected in a sample of 343 home-based family child care providers in five states who had agreed to participate in an intervention study on the effectiveness of a model of consultation aimed at quality enhancement. The overall purpose of these studies was to address the shortage of research in family child care and to examine the gaps in defining child care quality by investigating both structural characteristics and beliefs as predictors of quality. Chapter III, the first empirical article, provides a detailed description of this sample of family child care providers and their beliefs, the characteristics of their programs, and ratings of observed process quality. Data for this study come from the Quality Interventions in Early Care and Education (QUINCE) study designed to investigate a quality enhancement initiative and consist of information obtained prior to any consultation intervention. In addition, this study examines the relations among provider and program structural characteristics, measures of beliefs, and the quality of care being provided in this sample of family child care