Section III - Policy Affecting and Evaluation of Quality: From Research to Policy: In Search of an Affordable Statewide System for Rating Child Care Quality

State governments are beginning to institute systems to rate the quality of child care programs, both as a service to consumers and as an incentive for quality improvement. More states might experiment with such systems if they believed that valid ratings could be assigned without burdensome costs....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Early education and development 2005-10, Vol.16 (4), p.493-504
Main Authors: Riley, David A., Roach, Mary A., Adams, Diane, Edie, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child Care
Educational Improvement
Public Policy
State Government
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Summary:State governments are beginning to institute systems to rate the quality of child care programs, both as a service to consumers and as an incentive for quality improvement. More states might experiment with such systems if they believed that valid ratings could be assigned without burdensome costs. The current study used survey data to construct an indirect rating of child care quality and then test whether that rating predicted observed quality. The results showed a moderate association between indirect and observed ratings of quality (r = .43, p < .001), but more importantly, it opened the door to a statewide conversation about child care quality improvement. Applied research is never sufficient to create policy change, but with fortuitous timing and careful attention to practical concerns, research can add meaningfully to the public policy process.
ISSN:1040-9289
1556-6935
DOI:10.1207/s15566935eed1604_9