Center-based Child Care Research Articles

Variation in teenage mothers' experiences of child care and other components of welfare reform: selection processes and developmental consequences.

Developmental evaluations of the current wave of welfare reform programs present challenges with regard to (1) assessing child outcomes; (2) accounting for heterogeneity among low-income families in both baseline characteristics and involvement in self-sufficiency activities and supports, and (3) development of alternatives to experimental approaches to causal inference. This study (N = 1,079) addresses these challenges by examining effects on 4- to 6-year-old children of different patterns of child care, self-sufficiency activities, and other service utilization indicators among experimental-group mothers in a 16-site welfare reform program. Outcomes in areas of cognitive ability and behavior problems were investigated. The study identified seven subgroups of participants engaging in different patterns of service utilization and activity involvement. A two-stage simultaneous equation methodology was used to account for selection, and effects on child cognitive ability of participation in specific patterns of services and activities were found. For example, children of mothers characterized by high levels of involvement in center-based child care, education, and job training showed higher levels of cognitive ability than children of mothers in groups characterized by high involvement in center-based care and education, or center-based care and job training. In addition, children of mothers in groups with high levels of involvement in any of these activities showed higher levels of cognitive ability than those with low levels of involvement. The bulk of selection effects occurred through site-level differences, rather than family-level socio-economic status or maternal depression indicators. Implications for welfare reform program and policy concerns are discussed.

Continuity of caregiver for infants and toddlers in center-based child care: Report on a survey of center practices

The purposes of this mail survey were to describe the extent to which child care programs use continuity of caregivers with infants and toddlers, the factors influencing decisions to move infants and toddlers to new classes, the practices used to prepare them for such moves, and the extent to which respondents agreed with the concept of providing continuity of caregivers. Child care programs accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and those that were not accredited were selected randomly from existing data bases. Results indicate that (a) relatively few programs use continuity of caregivers for infants and even fewer use it for toddlers; (b) the majority of programs consider children’s attainment of developmental milestones, their age, and the space available in the next class when deciding when to transition infants and toddlers to new classes; (c) most centers used a number of practices to prepare infants and toddlers to move to new classes; and (d) more respondents report agreement with using continuity of caregivers than practice it. Relatively few differences were noted across accredited and nonaccredited centers on these issues.

Within and beyond the classroom door: assessing quality in child care centers

This study reports data from a multisite study of typical center-based child care and children’s development regarding (a) associations among quality of care defined by structural features, process indicators, and compliance with state regulations, (b) variation in quality based on the stringency of state child care regulations and center compliance, and (c) specific quality indicators that show especially strong links to children’s experiences in child care. Findings confirmed prior evidence regarding the importance of ratios, teacher training, and group size for high quality classroom processes, but demonstrated the more significant contribution of teacher wages and parent fees. Both structural and process measures of quality varied with the location of the center in a state with more or less stringent child care regulations. The results indicate the importance of incorporating economic and regulatory considerations into future studies of childcare quality.

Quality of care and temperament determine changes in cortisol concentrations over the day for young children in childcare.

The current study investigated whether patterns of cortisol production in preschool-aged children in group care were influenced by characteristics such as group size, adult:child ratio, separation from family/parents, and quality of attention and stimulation from the childcare provider. Data were obtained from preschoolers attending home-based childcare. Cortisol levels were sampled at home and at childcare. Parents and teachers assessed the child's temperament (CBQ, TBQ). At childcare, the children were observed using the Observational Ratings of the Caregiving Environment (ORCE). Childcare characteristics were independent of family or child characteristics. In home-based childcare, children's cortisol patterns over the day correlated significantly with the amount of attention and stimulation provided by the childcare provider. Using a median split on the quality index measure of focused attention/stimulation, children in settings that were above the median exhibited no change in cortisol from home to childcare, while those in settings below the median exhibited a reversal of the typical pattern of cortisol production from morning to afternoon. At home these children exhibited the expected decrease in cortisol from morning to afternoon. Patterns of cortisol production at childcare were also correlated with child temperament with larger increases from morning to afternoon for more emotionally negative children and those with less self-control. Finally, cortisol production in home-based childcare was compared to data from children in center-based childcare and children not enrolled in full-day childcare.

Relating quality of center-based child care to early cognitive and language development longitudinally.

How quality of center-based child care relates to early cognitive and language development was examined longitudinally from 6 to 36 months of age in a sample of 89 African American children. Both structural and process measures of quality of child care were collected through observation of the infant classroom. Results indicated that higher quality child care was related to higher measures of cognitive development (Bayley Scales of Infant Development), language development (Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development), and communication skills (Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales) across time, even after adjusting for selected child and family characteristics. In addition, classrooms that met professional recommendations regarding child:adult ratios tended to have children with better language skills. Classrooms that met recommendations regarding teacher education tended to have girls with better cognitive and receptive language skills. These findings, in conjunction with the growing child-care literature, provide further evidence that researchers and policymakers should strive to improve the quality of child care to enhance early development of such vulnerable children.

“I Wanted to See if We Could Make it Work”: Perspectives on Inclusive Childcare

Increasingly, young children with disabilities are included in natural learning environments such as home- and center-based childcare settings. Childcare providers are asked to adapt their practices and make accommodations to include these children. In this qualitative study, six childcare providers who provide inclusive childcare in a Midwest city were interviewed. They discussed factors that contribute to their ability to provide inclusive childcare. The authors analyzed the data according to grounded theory methodology. They identified the following main contributing factors: (a) the providers' commitment, (b) finding the balance between resources and needs, (c) problem-solving with parents, (d) access to emotional support and technical assistance, and (e) access to other supports. The authors discuss commonalties and divergences between home-based and center-based programs and implications for future practices.

A longitudinal study of otitis media with effusion among 2- to 5-year-old African-American children in child care.

To prospectively document the prevalence of otitis media with effusion (OME) in 86 African-American children between ages 2 and 5 years. Eighty-six children in center-based child care whose ear status had been followed from infancy continued to be observed. Middle ear status was assessed by pneumatic otoscopy and tympanometry biweekly. The prevalence of OME decreased as children became older. The mean proportion of examinations demonstrating bilateral OME (BOME) ranged from 12% between 24 to 30 months to 4% between 54 to 60 months of age. The mean proportion of exams revealing bilateral normal ears increased from 77% at 24 to 30 months to 88% at 54 to 60 months of age. Although 60 children had experienced BOME that lasted 4 months or longer in the 6- to 24-month age period, only 8 of these children experienced at least 4 months of continuous BOME between 24 to 60 months. The proportion of time with BOME decreased progressively with increasing age in this population. Only 8 of 60 children who had experienced more than 4 consecutive months of BOME before 2 years of age continued to manifest persistent effusion or experience recurrences of prolonged BOME after 2 years of age.

Social Behavior Correlates of Cortisol Activity in Child Care: Gender Differences and Time‐of‐Day Effects

The relations between social behavior and daily patterns of a stress-sensitive hormone production were examined in preschool children (N = 75) attending center-based child care. Three behavioral dimensions, shy/anxious/internalizing, angry/aggressive/externalizing, and social competence, were assessed by teacher report and classroom observation, and their relations with 2 measures of cortisol activity, median (or typical) levels and reactivity (quartile range score between second and third quartile values) were explored. Cortisol-behavior relations differed by gender: significant associations were found for boys but not for girls. Specifically, for boys externalizing behavior was positively associated with cortisol reactivity, while internalizing behavior was negatively associated with median cortisol. Time of day of cortisol measurement affected the results. Surprisingly, median cortisol levels rose from morning to afternoon, a pattern opposite to that of the typical circadian rhythm of cortisol. This rise in cortisol over the day was positively correlated with internalizing behavior for boys. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings for the study of the development of hormone-behavior relations are discussed.

Investigating Child Care Subsidy: What Are We Buying?

Investigating Child Care Subsidy: What Are We Buying?

Evaluation of an Inservice Model To Train Child Care Providers About Inclusion

This study investigates the effects of an inservice education project focused on care for children with disabilities. Employees of home- and center-based child care programs were randomly assigned to training and control groups. Caregivers who received training attended group meetings and observed on-site demonstrations under live and videotaped presentation conditions. During the first year, a multidisciplinary team consisting of eight professionals presented monthly workshops and conducted on-site consultation and demonstration visits at the child care settings. During the second year, one professional presented videotapes and led discussions during group meetings, and a graduate student assistant conducted the on-site consultation and demonstration visits. Two control groups of caregivers did not receive any training. Caregivers who participated in the training groups earned significantly higher scores on an observation scale and on a self-rating questionnaire than caregivers who were assigned to the control groups. There were no significant differences between the two training conditions; the video presentations were as effective as the live presentations. This study supports the use of a relatively inexpensive and time-efficient approach to inservice education about inclusion of children with disabilities into child care environments.

Risk factors and otitis media in children: Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES III)

Supporting children's self-regulation in eating through caregivers' practice of responsive feeding is paramount to obesity prevention, and while much attention has been given to supporting children's self-regulation in eating through parents' responsive feeding practices in the home setting, little attention has been given to this issue in childcare settings. This qualitative study examines childcare providers' perspectives on using responsive feeding practices with young children (2–5years). Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with providers until saturation was reached. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The final sample included 18 providers who were employed full-time in Head Start or state-licensed center-based childcare programs, cared for children (2-5y), and were directly responsible for serving meals and snacks. Providers were primarily (67%) employed in childcare programs that served children from low-income families and received reimbursement for meals and snacks from the US Department of Agriculture's Child and Adult Care Food Program. Three factors emerged that shaped childcare providers' experiences using responsive feeding practices: the providers' perspectives about whether or not young children can self-regulate food intake, their understanding of Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) portion size regulations, and the availability of food at the center where they worked. Future research should examine how childcare providers' understanding of children's ability to self-regulate their food intake, the appropriate use of the CACFP regulations in relationship to serving sizes, and having food available to offer seconds promotes providers' use of responsive feeding practices in center-based childcare programs and children's dietary behaviors.

The development of the day treatment centre for emotionally disturbed children at the West End Crèche, Toronto.

This article describes the interplay of various interests in centre-based child care from the 1930s to the late 1960s, through an examination of the development of a treatment centre for children with autism at the West End Creche in Toronto. The impact of the attention to child care during World War II in North America is described in relation to the postwar trend to reorient child care away from a service for wage-earning mothers and towards an educational-therapeutic service for children and families. The role of local and international welfare associations, as well as the influence of the interrelated professions of child psychiatry, social work, and nursery education, is reviewed. Finally, implications for current developments in the field of early childhood education are discussed.

Predicting Literacy and Social Skills of Time Spent in Child Care Centers Among Low-SES Kindergartners: The Role

This study investigates the role of the amount of time spent in center-based child care as a predictor of low-income children's (N = 138) literacy and social skills upon entrance to kindergarten, within the context of other child and family influences. Child care emerged as a significant predictor of mathematics and letter recognition skills, but did not predict social skills. Findings suggest that fostering literacy skills is critical in preparing low-SES children for school.

CHILD CARE AS WOMEN'S WORK

In this study, family- and center-based child care providers participated in day-long research workshops in which they first identified dimensions of an “ideal” caregiving situation and then, using a critical incident technique, explored the meaning and experience of “power” as caregivers. This article is devoted to examining the ways in which child care workers understand the notion of “powerfulness” and “powerlessness” in their work. Themes emerging from critical incidents are considered in light of feminist and caregiving literatures. The article concludes by drawing implications from the project's findings for policy, advocacy, and conceptual development.

Quality of Center Child Care and Infant Cognitive and Language Development

The relations between quality of center-based child care and infant cognitive and language development were examined in a sample of 79 African-American 12-month-old infants. Both structural and process measures of quality of child care were collected through interviews with the center director and observation of the infant classroom. Results indicated that quality of infant care positively correlated with scores on standardized assessments of cognitive development (Bayley Scales of Infant Development), language development (Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development), and communication skills (Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales). In addition, quality of care in child care centers and at home was positively related. Analyses that adjusted for this association between quality of care at home and in child care suggested that the process measure of quality of child care independently related to the infant's cognitive development, and one structural measure, the infant-adult ratio, independently related to the infant's overall communication skills. Neither child nor family factors was found to moderate the association between child care quality and infant development. These findings, in conjunction with the growing child care literature, suggest that researchers and policymakers should focus on how quality of child care can be improved to enhance, not impair, infant development.

Infant transitions: Home to center-based child care

An array of factors are examined which may encourage or impede the infant’s transition from home to center-based care. Specifically explored are the structural climate of the child care center and the inter-related needs of the infant, parent(s), staff, and administrative leadership. Utilizing the conceptual frameworks of Maier (1991) and Greenspan and Porges (1984), guidelines are offered which facilitate the infant’s transition to center-based care in a manner that takes into account the infant’s relational development and enhances attachment quality.

Universal Access to Good-quality Education and Care of Children From Birth to 5 Years

CHILDREN IN EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS All families with children need child care at one time or another, and increasingly, parents seek child care so they can work outside of the home. During the past two decades, the proportion of mothers of young children entering the labor force nearly doubled, reaching 68% in 1992, with a concomitant dramatic increase in the number of children younger than 5 years who receive some form of out-of-home child care. Currently, about 80% of children entering school have had regular care in either child care centers (nonresidential settings that provide care and education for any number of children), nursery schools or preschools, their own homes, the homes of relatives, or, most frequently, family day cane homes (the homes of the care givers in which care and education are provided for either a small [1 to 6] or large [7 to 12] number of children). The types of child care arrangements and the extent to which they are used vary according to the child's age and the income, education, and employment status of the parents. Older preschool children, children whose mothers have more than high school educations, and children whose families' incomes are higher are more likely to be enrolled in center-based care. Unemployed parents also tend to use care in centers rather than cane in the child's or another family's home, presumably because subsidized center-based child care programs are available for them. Overall, however, poor families are less likely to make use of preschool programs for their 3- to 4-year-old children than are more affluent families.

Prospective surveillance for otitis media with effusion among black infants in group child care

Objective: To document the prevalence of otitis media with effusion (OME) in 102 black children observed prospectively between 6 and 24 months of age. Methods: Study children attended nine different center-based child care facilities. Middle ear status was assessed by pneumatic otoscopy and tympanometry every 2 weeks. Results: All children, except one, had OME during the period of observation. The proportion of child-examinations revealing bilateral OME ranged from 76% between 6 and 12 months of age to 30% between 21 and 24 months of age. Effusions were considered purulent in only 13% of examinations revealing middle ear fluid. The mean incidence of purulent OME was 2.13 episodes per child per year. Sixty-six children had at least 4 months of continuous bilateral OME during the period of observation; 57 were followed without placement of tympanostomy tubes. Bilateral OME had resolved before the second birthday in 95% of these children, and within 3 months of achieving the 4-month criterion in 50% of subjects. Conclusions: Persistent bilateral OME occurs commonly between 6 and 18 months of age in infants who enter group child care during the first year of life. In thisstudy, spontaneous resolution of bilateral effusion by 2 years of age was typical. (J P EDIATR 1995;127:875-80)

Where we are headed—and why: A step-by-step guide to strategic planning in center-based child care

Having a vision for the future is an essential, yet elusive, part of day care management. For busy administrators, planning for the years ahead is often a low priority due to the day-to-day emergencies which take precedent. However, this can be accomplished in an effective manner through the process of strategic planning. Unlike long-term planning, completed by a few administrators in isolation and based on current trends, strategic planning allows all those involved in the child care center—board members, director, staff, volunteers, and parents—to participate in the process of constructing a future for the child care center based on current realities as well as their hopes and dreams. Once it is written, a guide is established which provides direction for future activities for the center. This article offers a step-by-step guide to the development of a strategic plan.

Homebased child care: A profession not just a job

In order for family day caregivers to increase the status of their profession, they require knowledge of early childhood and confidence in themselves in the work they do. The Certificate in Childcare (Homebased) was developed to be relevant to childcare in the home rather than centre based child care, to be offered in flexible mode with flexible entry and exit points.It is proposed that a professional attitude influences the level of skill of caregivers. The study aimed to monitor whether the course can impact on caregivers' skills, and on how they view their profession. The study was based on an assessment of the child care skills of 58 caregivers which is part of the course requirements. Students were supervised and rated on their performance using the Harms and Clifford Rating Scale for Family Day Care. 70% of students were considered to have demonstrated the required level of competence.Caregivers were also interviewed regarding their attitudes towards the course. Caregivers felt that the course gave them more status and most had plans for further study. Such positive changes can only benefit children and families using Family Day Care