Child Care Quality and Children’s Development in

Indiana Low Income Working Families

James Elicker, Carolyn Clawson, & Soo-Young HongPurdue University

Child Care Resource and Referral In the 21st Century Conference

October, 2004

Thank you to CCCRP Advisory Board Members

Lanier DeGrella, Indiana Families and Social Services Administration

Nancy Flennery, Step Ahead Marsha Hearn-Lindsey, Child Care

Answers Jan Levy, Child Care Professional

Network Shelley MacDermid, Purdue

University Cheryl Miller, Indiana Head Start

Association David Sisk, Step Ahead Charles Smith, St. Joseph County

Division of Family and Children

Sharon Sullivan, Indiana Families and Social Services Administration

Marsha Thompson, Indiana Association of Child Care Resource and Referral

Dianna Wallace, Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children

Maria Klein, Indiana Youth Institute

Lisa Henley, IACCRR, Better Baby Campaign

Community Child Care Research Project (CCCRP)

General goals of our projectHow are the low-income working families and children from the families doing, post welfare reform in 1996?

Quality of the child care that these families are using

Does child care quality make a difference for these families?

Children’s development

Parents’ employment or education

Low-income Working Families

Family income – Less than $35,000 a year

Parents – Work, go to school, or in job training

Have a child between 6 months and 6 years old in out-of-home care

Description of CCCRP

4 urban communities in Indiana St. Joseph, Marion, Allen, & Lake Counties

Talked to parents to get a permission to observe their childTalked to caregivers to get a permission to go into their child care settingObservation (child care quality) + assessment of each child (cognitive and socioemotional competence)Questionnaires to caregivers and parents about each child’s development

Questions Asked

What is the quality of the child care?Does child care quality differ for infants/toddlers and preschoolers?

Does quality differ among types of care settings?

Is children’s development linked with the quality of the child care?

General Description of SampleN = 307 children

Center based programs (63% of children):Licensed child care centers/preschools (n = 117)Child care ministries (n = 48)Head Start programs (n = 28)

Home based programs (37% of children):Licensed family child care (n = 74)Unlicensed family child care (n = 24)Relative care (n = 16)

Age of children:Infants/Toddlers (n = 121)Preschool age children (n = 186)

Sample(Percent of children)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Infants/Toddlers Preschool Age Children

Center based care Home based care

Back

Child Care Quality Measures

Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-R) OR Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS)Parent-Caregiver Relationship Scale (PCRS-parent and caregiver reports)Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)Caregiver Talk

Child Care Global Quality

Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-R) OR Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS)

Score can range from 1 to 7

1: Inadequate; 3: Minimal; 5: Good; 7: ExcellentSubscales

Classroom space and furnishings Personal care routines Language - Reasoning Activities provided Adult-child and child-child interactions Program structure Issues related to parents and staff

Distribution of Global QualityECERS-R or FDCRS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7Child Care Quality

0

5

10

15

20

25

Mean = 3.8Std. Dev. = 1.4

N = 307

Distribution of global quality: Infants/Toddlers vs. Preschoolers

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Child Care Quality

0

5

10

15

20

25

Mean = 3.06Std. Dev. = 1.17N = 121

Infants/Toddlers

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Child Care Quality

0

5

10

15

20

25

Mean = 4.3Std. Dev. = 1.4N = 186

Preschoolers

Global Child Care Quality:ECERS-R/FDCRS Scores for Infants/Toddlers and Preschoolers

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Infants/Toddlers Preschoolers

Low Quality (1-4) High Quality (5-7)

Global Child Care Quality:ECERS-R/FDCRS Scores by Type of Care

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Child Care Quality-- Relationships

Parent Caregiver Relationship Scale (PCRS)

Parents and caregivers rate statements about their relations

Examples: “I work closely with my child’s caregiver in order to gain a better understanding of my child;” “I have different values concerning how to best meet the child needs.”

Score can range from 1 to 5

1: Strongly Disagree; 5: Strongly Agree

Child Care Quality:Parent-Caregiver Relationship

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Caregiver Parent

Child Care Quality– Caregiver-Child Relationship

Student Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS)

Caregivers rate statements about their relationship with child

Examples: “I share an affectionate, warm relationship with this child;” “Dealing with this child drains my energy”

Score can range from 1 to 5

1: Definitely does not apply; 5: Definitely applies

Child Care Quality:Caregiver-Child Relationship (STRS) for Infants/Toddlers and Preschoolers

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Infants/Toddlers Preschool Age Children

Child Care Quality:Caregiver-Child Relationship (STRS) by Type of Care

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Child Care Quality- Caregiver Talk

Caregiver Talk Children are observed in child care and adult talk to the child was coded and categorized3 categories (%)

High level talk: question, description, prompt/suggestion, and expansionLow level talk: praise, directive, and socialNo talk

Types of Caregiver Talk(% of the time observed)

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Caregiver High LevelTalk

Caregiver Low LevelTalk

No Talk

Infants/Toddlers PreschoolersBack

Children’s Learning and Development

Infants/Toddlers

Mullen early learning composite (M = 85.24)

Visual reception

Fine motor

Receptive language

Expressive language

Socioemotional competence

Parent report

Caregiver report

Children’s Learning and Development

Preschool Age ChildrenEarly Academic Skills

Receptive vocabularyName, Age, Date of birthColor namesCounting

Academic AttitudesSocial-emotional competence

Parent reportCaregiver report

Higher quality was linked to better early learning of infants/toddlers

0

20

40

60

80

100

Low Quality (1~4) High Quality (5~7)

Higher quality was linked to better early academic skills of preschool age children

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

Low Quality (1~4) High Quality (5~7)

Better parent-caregiver relationship was linked to:

Preschoolers’ academic attitude Preschoolers’ socioemotional competence report

ed by caregivers Preschoolers’ socioemotional competence

reported by parents

Better parent-caregiver relationship was linked to preschoolers’ socioemotional competence as reported by caregivers

-0.5

-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Low (1~3) High (4~5)

Better caregiver-child relationship was linked to:

Preschoolers’ early academic skills Preschoolers’ socioemotional competence report

ed by parents Preschoolers’ socioemotional competence

reported by caregivers

Better caregiver-child relationship was linked to preschoolers’ socioemotional competence reported by parents

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

Low (1~3) High (4~5)

Higher level caregiver talk was linked to:

Infants/Toddlers’ early learning composite Infants/Toddlers’ socioemotional competence re

ported by parents Preschoolers’ early academic skills Preschoolers’ socioemotional competence

reported by caregivers

Higher level caregiver talk was linked to infants/toddlers’ socioemotional competence

-0.5

-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Less than 15% of the time More than 15% of the time

ConclusionsChild Care Global Quality (ECERS-R/FDCRS)

Infants/Toddlers received significantly lower quality care.Head Start > Licensed center care > Child care ministries, Licensed family care, Unlicensed family care > Relative care

Parent Caregiver RelationshipMost parents and caregivers rated their relationship quality high.Parents and caregivers in home-based care (relative and family care) had more positive relationships than in center-based care (centers, ministries, Head Starts).

ConclusionsCaregiver Talk

High level talk observed more than Low level talk.

Preschoolers experienced more high level talk than infants/toddlers.

No child care setting differences were found.

Caregiver-child relationship

Caregivers rated caregiver-child relationships positively.

Caregiver-preschooler relationship quality was more positive than caregiver-infant/toddler relationship quality

Licensed center care & Head Start had more positive caregiver-child relationships than Licensed family care, Unlicensed family care, Child care ministries, & Relative care

Conclusions

Relation between Child Care Quality and Child Development

Higher global child care quality was linked to:

Infants/toddlers’ early learning levels

Preschoolers’ early academic skills

Better parent-caregiver relationships were linked to:

Preschoolers’ academic attitude

Preschoolers’ socioemotional competence reported by parents and caregivers

ConclusionsRelation between Child Care Quality and Child Development (cont.)

Better caregiver-child relationships were linked to:Preschoolers’ early academic skillsPreschoolers’ socioemotional competence reported by parents and caregivers

Higher level caregiver talk was linked to:Infants/toddlers’ early learning compositeInfants/toddlers’ socioemotional competence reported by parentsPreschoolers’ early learning skillsPreschoolers’ socioemotional competence reported by caregivers

Summing Up:

Child care quality for low income working families in these 4 counties is generally low Their choices are limited in many ways

Head Start and licensed centers provide higher quality care Impact of standards

Infant care is lowest quality Needs attention! Child care quality is associated with children’s

cognitive and social-emotional development Efforts to improve quality will have an impact!

Thank you!