Center-based Care Research Articles

Parent engagement in early care and education settings: relationship with engagement practices and child, parent, and centre characteristics

ABSTRACT Parent engagement in early care and education (ECE) settings is a component of high quality childcare, yet little is known about mechanisms of parent engagement in centre-based care. Using a nationally representative U.S. sample, we examined centre, classroom, and teacher characteristics associated with practices ECE providers use to engage parents, and the association between these practices and parent engagement at ECE centre-based programmes. Centres with lower adult-to-child ratios, more health and developmental services, fewer meal subsidies, more time spent in reading activities, and longer teacher tenure utilized more parent engagement practices. Parents engaged more at ECE centres that had higher levels of engagement practices, accepted subsidies, were not preschool programmes, and had teachers who believed children should learn to read in kindergarten. Additional research is needed to identify characteristics that contribute to variation in use of ECE engagement practices and policies that increase parent engagement.

COVID-19-A Guide to Rapid Implementation of Telehealth Services: A Playbook for the Pediatric Gastroenterologist.

COVID-19-A Guide to Rapid Implementation of Telehealth Services: A Playbook for the Pediatric Gastroenterologist.

Implementation of an Early Childhood Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Program in New South Wales, Australia: Munch & Move.

Background: Childhood obesity is an important public health issue. Approximately 20% of 2–4 year olds are overweight or obese, meaning 1 in 5 Australian children start school above a healthy weight. In the state of New South Wales (NSW) the combined prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity is significantly higher among children from low socioeconomic status backgrounds and children from regional, rural and remote areas. This paper describes implementation of a healthy eating and active play program (Munch & Move) for center-based early childhood education and care (ECEC) services aimed at influencing healthy behaviors in young children in NSW, Australia. It shows changes over time including a focus on disadvantaged, Aboriginal and remote communities. It also discusses the challenges and future opportunities for the program.Methods: Routine data in relation to service delivery (reach) and implementation indicators are collected by Local Health District staff. Fifteen implementation indicators (known as practices) were introduced to monitor the implementation of Munch & Move (six related to promoting and encouraging healthy eating, four related to improving physical activity, two related to small screen recreation; and three related to quality of service delivery).Results: As of 30 June 2017, 88.4% of ECEC services have staff trained in Munch & Move. Of the 15 practices related to promoting and encouraging healthy eating, increasing physical activity and improving the quality of service delivery 13 practices saw significant improvements between 2012 and 2017. This was consistent for services with a high proportion of Aboriginal children and for services in disadvantaged and remote communities. There has been a statistically significant increase in the proportion (37.6–81.0%, p < 0.0001) and type of ECEC services (preschools 36.1–81.3%, p < 0.0001, long day care 38.6–81.0%, p < 0.0001, and occasional care 34.0–74.6%, p < 0.0001) that have implemented the program since 2012 as well as in services with a high proportion of Aboriginal children (33.6–85.2% p < 0.0001), services in disadvantaged communities (37.4–83.3% p < 0.001), and services in remote communities (27.8–59.4% p < 0.0139).Discussion: This paper demonstrates that Munch & Move has seen large improvements in the delivery of training, practice achievements and program adoption in ECEC services across NSW including services in disadvantaged and remote communities and that have a higher proportion of Aboriginal children.

Examining Childcare Instability and Transition Patterns in Low-Income, Urban Neighborhoods in the United States: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT This study examines why African-American caregivers in low-income urban neighborhoods in the United States transition their children between different childcare arrangements involving relative care, home/family care and center-based care, based on interviews conducted with 40 caregivers from three different childcare centers in one metropolitan region. This study speaks to the importance of planned and forced transitions and their role in fostering instability for young children and their families. Findings highlight the importance caregivers place on finding the most appropriate care arrangements for their children in terms of enhanced educational and socialization opportunities in spite of challenges faced. The number and nature of abrupt transitions, a type of transition introduced in the study, are also indicative of a worrying prevalence of low-quality care in families’ low-income, urban neighborhoods. This study underscores the need for ongoing and increasingly focused engagement by advocates to ensure positive outcomes for children. The results demonstrate that childcare instability is a complex, nuanced concept and that future research needs to be attentive to the perspectives of parents and families from low-income backgrounds.

Center-Based Care and Parenting Activities

We estimate effects of center-based care on parenting activities using time use data for Germany. Our estimates imply that center-based care reduces the overall time that parents spend with the enrolled child, but has only small negative effects on time spent doing activities together. Correspondingly, center-based care increases activities as a share of the time spent together with the child. The overall effect is driven by households with lower maternal education. Our findings imply that child development effects of center-based care may be explained, not just by the institutional environment, but also by changes that occur within the home environment.

The Educare intervention: Outcomes at age 3

The effectiveness of Educare, a center-based early education program, in improving child outcomes at age 3 was evaluated in a randomized clinical trial. Educare programs serve children from birth to age 5 and are designed to reduce the achievement gap between children from low-income families and their more advantaged peers. This study began following 239 children from low-income families who were randomly assigned as infants (<19 months) to Educare or a business-as-usual control group. At age 3, assessments of the skills of 202 children remaining in the study revealed significant differences in favor of children in the treatment group on auditory language skills, early math skills, and parent-reported problem behaviors. Effect sizes were in the modest range, although not as strong as the previously reported age 2 findings. No effects were found for observations of parent-child interactions, observer-rated child behaviors, or parent-rated social competence. For English-language skills, children who were dual language learners (DLLs) benefitted more from treatment than non-DLLs. Analyses of outcomes by child care type, regardless of treatment group assignment, showed that children in Educare had better language, math, and behavioral scores than children in less formal care, whereas children in other center-based care only had higher language scores than children in less formal care. Differences in outcomes between Educare and other center-based care were not significant.

Inside the classroom door: Understanding early care and education workforce and classroom characteristics experienced by children in subsidized center-based care

The federal child care subsidy program is the nation’s largest public early care and education (ECE) program for low-income children, yet little research has documented the workforce and classroom characteristics that affect children’s experiences in subsidized classrooms. Moreover, no existing study has compared the workforce and classroom characteristics in subsidized classrooms to those in classrooms across the range of alternative center-based settings available to low-income children. To fill this knowledge gap, the present study uses data from the newest national survey of child care available – the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE), collected in 2012 – to describe subsidized classrooms on a broad set of workforce and classroom characteristics. Classrooms serving children with child care subsidies are compared to other classrooms serving low-income children, with a distinction between those that receive other public funds (Head Start or school-based pre-k), and those that do not (non-publicly-funded centers). Consistent with prior research, which finds classrooms serving subsidized children to have lower observed global quality than Head Start or pre-k classrooms, our findings reveal that classrooms serving children receiving subsidies typically have a more disadvantaged workforce and fewer classroom characteristics indicative of higher quality and believed to promote child development. Compared to non-publicly-funded center-based classrooms, classrooms serving subsidized children scored lower on several desirable workforce characteristics such as hourly pay and receipt of coaching, but did not differ on classroom characteristics.

Imbalances between workforce policy and employment for early childhood graduate teachers: Complexities and considerations

Early childhood teachers have a myriad of possible employment options, with birth to eight years degree qualifications preparing graduates to work in a range of early childhood settings, including prior-to-school. At the same time, early childhood workforce policies in Australia, and elsewhere, are increasingly requiring degree-qualified teachers to be employed in prior-to-school settings. A growing number of reports and studies make a compelling case that there is a shortage of early childhood, degree-qualified teachers who are willing to work in prior-to-school settings, including centre-based child care. This conceptual article focuses on the imbalances in workforce policy and employment for early childhood teacher graduates. We examine the complexities and considerations of these imbalances, through exploration of literature and existing research, including small-scale studies and existing graduate destination data (Australian Graduate Survey). The article concludes with a proposed research agenda and suggestions to redress the imbalance of early childhood graduate teachers who are prepared, though seemingly not willing, to operationalise policy requirements for teachers to work in centre-based child care.

Maternal and non-maternal care in infancy and later child cognitive, language and motor development in Chile: Does type of care matter?

Growing numbers of children across the world start non-maternal care in the first year of life. However, few studies have described how different infant care experiences may relate to later child cognitive, language and motor functioning, and most analyses have focused on samples from historically industrialized regions. Cognitive, language and motor subscores (TEPSI) and receptive vocabulary scores (TVIP) obtained through direct testing of 24-to-48-month-old children (n = 7564) from the Chilean Longitudinal Survey of Early Childhood were compared based on retrospective reports of care received as infants. Children who, as infants, had received one of four types of non-maternal care — center-based, grandparent, other relative, and non-relative care — were compared to those who had exclusively experienced maternal care (71.8%). Series of regressions with propensity score models (PSM) were performed. Compared to maternal care, children in center-based care and grandparent care had higher total TEPSI scores (d = .19, p < 0.05) (d = .19, p < 0.01) and TEPSI language subscores (d = .20, p < 0.05) (d = .20, p < 0.01), while those in grandparent care also had higher TEPSI motor subscores (d = .08, p < 0.05). In contrast, children in non-relative care had lower TVIP receptive vocabulary scores (d = −.38, p < 0.01). These findings contribute to the debate on national policies supporting specific types of non-maternal care and their impact on child development.

Factors influencing food service provision decisions in centre-based early childhood education and care services: Cooks' perspective.

Considerable public effort has been directed at centre-based childcare as an early childhood education and care (ECEC) setting to promote healthy food-related behaviours in young children. However, in the real-world setting, best practice, evidence-based guidelines are not always well-translated into usual, day-to-day routines. This study aims to understand what factors influence the centre-based childcare cooks' food and nutrition decisions for children aged 2-5years. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with cooks in centre-based childcare using purposeful maximum variation sampling and data analysed thematically. Fourteen cooks were interviewed from 14 services across South Australia. Central to providing a healthy food environment was expert-led knowledge and training gained through the workplace over several years and the embodiment of the service's healthy food and nutrition policy, evidenced through menu planning to maintain a focus on healthy eating. Threatening these positive, routine practices and decisions were pressures to modify menus in response to increasing food allergies and changing cultural and family preferences, in the absence of ongoing relevant training and expertise at the system-level. Children in ECEC benefit from cooks' commitment to providing nutritious foods; however, the requirements to extend their role to respond to increasing demands without relevant system-level support and training puts the children at risk of not being exposed to health-promoting menus and possible errors in providing dietary modifications. ECEC cooks urgently need access to system-level support and training. SO WHAT?: Understanding and addressing the barriers experienced by cooks and the complexity of factors that inform their food-related decision-making will sustain the implementation of effective, healthy eating guidelines and nutrition practices in ECEC.

Choosing what is best for one’s children? Experimental evidence on parents’ responsiveness to childcare subsidies and their preferences for different childcare arrangements

How do various levels of subsidies shape parental preferences for different childcare arrangements? Using data collected in a choice experiment that was conducted with 540 parents in the city of Bern, Switzerland, this study demonstrates how parental preferences for adequate childcare arrangements for their preschool-aged children are crucially mediated by the offered subsidies. Focusing on center-based care, we further investigate whether these preferences differ across individual social status, earnings, migration background, and gender. The results show that subsidizing high-quality childcare centers seems to fulfill the underlying policy goal of shifting parents’ preferences toward formal, center-based care arrangements. We also observe that this effect is more pronounced for individuals who are less likely to resort to this type of childcare in the first place, namely, families with fewer monetary resources, individuals with a migration background, and men.

Understanding early childhood education and care utilization in Canada: implications for demand and oversight

This study examined early childhood education and care (ECEC) utilization in Canada, focusing on use of unlicensed home child care (HCC) from an equity perspective. Data from the 2011 cycle of the General Social Survey (GSS) were used. Across Canada, parent responses reveal that 16.6% of children between the age of 12 months and entry to school were in unlicensed HCC. Another 24% of working parents reported having no regular form of non-parental childcare. Families with higher incomes were more likely to report using center-based care. Conversely, lower-income working parents with lower levels of education were more likely to use unlicensed HCC or report using no non-parental care at all. Comparison of parent responses in Ontario, however, where government estimates for the number of licensed and unlicensed HCC spaces are available, revealed that more parents report that their children are in licensed HCC than is possible. The lack of accurate parental reporting calls into question a key assumption of current regulatory systems, which is that parents are informed consumers of ECEC services. Given that many parents misreport the type of HCC their children use, and the equity concerns raised by the overall utilization patterns we found, we argue that governments need to take a more active role in oversight and support of HCC.

Effects of prior formal and informal caregiving experiences on undergraduates’ infant/toddler caregiving knowledge and beliefs

ABSTRACTWith growing emphasis on the development and use of competencies (knowledge, dispositions, skills) for training and evaluating the early childhood workforce, this study aimed to identify sources of variation in undergraduate students’ beliefs and knowledge related to competencies identified by the Collaborative for Understanding Pedagogy for Infant/toddler Development (CUPID). Specifically, we examined how prior work experience with children, formal and informal, was related to students’ knowledge of developmentally appropriate expectations of young children, beliefs regarding supporting parent–child relationships in center-based care, and endorsement of strict discipline and physical punishment. Results indicate that formal (i.e., in child care centers, family child care homes) and informal work experiences with children (e.g., babysitting) may relate to beliefs and knowledge in different ways. Students with formal experience indicated slightly more support for parent–child relationships than students with informal experience. Students with formal or informal experience reported less endorsement of strict discipline than students with no experience working with children. Implications for higher education programs that prepare students to work with infants and toddlers are discussed, including the importance of providing ample opportunities for undergraduates to work with children in formal settings, and to reflect on each of their caregiving experiences, early in the undergraduate program.

Impact of Process Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care on Academic Outcomes: Longitudinal Meta-Analysis.

This meta-analysis studies the association of pedagogical processes in early childhood care and education with outcomes in two academic domains: language and literacy as well as mathematics. It synthesizes evidence from 17 longitudinal studies in nine European countries with 16,461 children in regular center-based care spanning the period between ages 3 and 16. Results of a three-level meta-analysis provided small overall effect sizes for both global and domain-specific process quality, and indicated lasting associations with academic development over children's school career (ES =.11, Cohen's d=.22, and ES =.10, Cohen's d=.20). Effects varied by outcome domain, type of process measure, and differences in adopted analyses, with important implications for pedagogical practice and future research.

Center-Based Care in Toddlerhood and Child Cognitive Outcomes in Chile: The Moderating Role of Family Socio-Economic Status

ABSTRACTThere is little evidence regarding the benefits of early center-based care attendance (before three years old) for child development and most studies have focused on developed countries. Addressing this gap, this study examines the relationship between center-based care attendance during toddler years and children’s cognitive outcomes. Research Findings: Data used for this study came from the first and second wave of the Longitudinal Survey of Early Childhood (ELPI, 2010 and 2012). The nationally representative sample was 1,544 children aged 12 to 24 months in 2010, who received full-time home care during this period. Propensity score matching (PSM) and difference-in-differences techniques were used in the study. Compared to those in full-time home care, children who attended center-based care from the age of 24 months had higher cognitive scores in the endline (they were measured at some point between 36 and 48 months old). Children in center-based care scored higher on cognitive skills compared to children who were in full-time home care, according to the Child Development and Cognitive Evaluation Test (Test de Aprendizaje y Desarrollo Infantil, TADI) and the Battelle test (d = .21 p < .01 and d = .22 p < .01, respectively). However, we observed that children in low-income households benefited less from early center-based care attendance. Practice or Policy: These findings suggest that Chilean national policies supporting increased center-based care coverage in early years are a step in the right direction, but more work focused on helping disadvantaged children is needed.

Center-based care for infants and toddlers: The aeioTU randomized trial

Little is known about the effectiveness of center-based high quality educational programs for infants and toddlers, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This paper reports effects from a randomized trial of a high-quality center-based early intervention on infants and toddlers in two communities in northern Colombia. Just eight months into the program results indicate large positive effects on language, cognitive development and overall development, with girls benefitting the most. No effects were found on nutritional outcomes, socio-emotional development or the home environment.

Improving the quality of early childhood care at scale: The effects of “From Zero to Forever”

The focus in developing countries is shifting from increasing access to early childhood care services to improving its quality. In light of the inclusion of early childhood development in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, there has emerged a global call for early childhood programs that integrate nutrition, health and development components. However, large-scale studies of integrated early childhood interventions are scarce in developing countries, and thus, little is known about its effectiveness and sustainability. In this paper we study the immediate and medium-run effects of a large-scale expansion of an integrated package of services including care, education, health and nutrition on child growth and development, by analyzing the expansion of the Colombian national early childhood strategy known as “From Zero to Forever” between 2011 and 2013. The results indicate that the increased access to integrated center-based care had a large immediate effect on vocabulary that persists five years into the intervention, and less robust effects on nutritional status.

Impact of Head Start Quality on Children’s Developmental Outcomes

ABSTRACTThis study examines Head Start’s impact on children’s cognitive and social-emotional outcomes by considering the quality of Head Start and heterogeneity in types of care received by the control group. The questions addressed in this article are (1) Do children who attended high-quality Head Start programs have better outcomes than those in low-quality Head Start, home-based, or center-based care and (2) Do child and family characteristics and overall quality affect child outcomes? This study found that high-quality Head Start children had higher cognitive scores than children in low quality Head Start or center-based care. Child and family characteristics and overall quality moderated the effects of type of care on children’s cognitive and social-emotional outcomes.

How does disability influence child care arrangements for young children? An examination using the NHES ECPP

Affordable child care is an essential support for families with young children, and quality of care impacts a range of child development outcomes. Still, many families face a number of barriers to accessing high-quality care. Given the necessary resources for raising a child with a disability, high-quality child care may be particularly salient for families with a child with a disability. Yet, these families face additional challenges to accessing appropriate care, and children with disabilities may be less likely to be receiving quality care than their nondisabled peers. Despite these challenges, little empirical work has been done to examine differences in child care arrangements between families who have a child with a disability and those who do not. Using data from the National Household Education Surveys (NHES) Early Childhood Program Participation (ECPP) surveys, this paper seeks to understand if there are differences in the types of arrangements used. Results suggest young children with disabilities are 50% more likely to be enrolled in formal, center-based care compared to no enrollment in child care and 25% less likely to be enrolled in informal care compared to center-based care than their nondisabled peers, with additional differences by household income and child's age. Findings offer a crucial first step in understanding child care arrangements for young children with disaiblities and indicate that center-based care may be particularly important for families.

How Much of Children’s Time in Nonparental Care Coincides with Their Parents’ Time at Work?

Nonparental care (NPC) for children before they enter kindergarten has had two primary purposes for American families since the start of the twentieth century: supporting parental employment and providing children developmentally enriching out-of-home experiences. Today’s policy makers are increasingly expanding publicly funded opportunities for children in low-income families to experience center-based care. Yet parents’ work commitments often occur on evenings, weekends, and other times outside of the traditional school day. Understanding parental work schedules vis-à-vis NPC timing is essential to informing public expansions of accessible and affordable nonparental care options. Using a 7-day calendar from the 2012 National Survey of Early Care and Education, the authors uncover new patterns in the temporal synchronization of parental work and children’s time in various NPC settings and for households of varying incomes. Across all income groups and types of care, center-based care overlaps least with parental work hours. Children living in poverty have the lowest rates of NPC occurring during parental work time. The uncoupling of parental work status from children’s time in nonparental care suggests potential shifts in parents’ choices to expose children to care settings for the purpose of children’s development.