Associations between Child Care Quality & Developmental Outcomes of Children in Low Income Working Families in Four Communities James Elicker, Soo-Young Hong, Carolyn Clawson, Tae-Eun Kim, Hsin-Hui Huang, & Susan J. Kontos Purdue University Abstract Indiana is a state where a high proportion of child care providers are exempt from licensing, and many funding decisions are made at the community level. We examined linkages between child care quality and developmental outcomes for 307 children (6 mo to 6 yrs) from low income working families in four urban communities. Quality levels of care used by families were generally low, especially for infants and toddlers and unlicensed forms of care. Results showed that measures of global, structural, and process quality were significantly associated with children’s social-emotional and cognitive developmental levels, after controlling for mother’s education level and child age. Research Questions What types and quality levels of child care are used by low income working families? Does child care use and quality vary across communities? Is child care quality associated with child development outcomes? Summary Low income families used child care of relatively low global quality. Lowest child care quality was observed in unlicensed forms of care, and in care for infants and toddlers. Head Start and licensed centers provided the highest global quality, while license-exempt child care ministries, family child care, and relative care had mean quality levels “minimal” or below. Observed interactions between caregivers and children were highest in “process quality” in Head Start and licensed centers, and lowest in licensed family child care. For infants and toddlers, global quality, caregivers’ specialized education, caregiver sensitivity, and caregiver high-level talk were associated with children’s cognitive and social-emotional outcomes. For preschoolers, global quality, caregiver-child relationships, caregiver high-level talk, and parent-caregiver relationships were associated with children’s cognitive and social-emotional outcomes. Funded by U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, Administration for Children & Families, Child Care Bureau Grant # 90YE0047 Participants Low income working families: Annual family income less than $35,000 Head of household working (employed, going to school, or in job training) at least half time Family had a child (6 mos to 6 yrs) enrolled in out-of-home child care for at least 15 hours per week Sample description: N = 307 low-income working families of young children and child care providers in 4 Indiana urban counties: St. Joseph (n = 78) Marion (n = 76) Allen (n = 76) Lake (n = 77) ⅔ of the families fell below the federal poverty level Child mean age = 40 mos. 152 boys, 153 girls Child ethnicity: African American (59%), European American (23%), Other (13%) 26% of children had fathers living in home A detailed final report is available on the Community Child Care Research Project web site: Regression Results: Child Care Quality and Infant-Toddler Outcomes (n = 121) Regression Results: Child Care Quality and Preschooler Outcomes (n = 186) Child Care Quality Measures Global Quality ECERS/FDCRS Structural Quality Child-Adult Ratio Caregiver General Education Level Caregiver Specialized Education (CD/ECE) Number of Years Experience (Caregiver) Process Quality Caregiver-Child Relationship (STRS: Pianta, 1996) Parent-Caregiver Relationship – parent (PCRS: Elicker, Noppe, Noppe, & Fortner-Wood, 1997) Parent-Caregiver Relationship – caregiver (PCRS) Caregiver Sensitivity (Caregiver Interaction Scale, CIS: Arnett, 1989) Adult Responsive Interactions (Adult Involvement Scale – Lite: Howes & Stewart, 1987) Caregiver High Level Talk (question, expand, prompt, and describe) Children’s Activity Cognitive Level (0 = none; 1 = low; 2 = medium; 3 = high) Child Development Composite Variables For older children’s outcomes, Principal Components Analysis was used to create composite variables: Cognitive Composites: Early Academic Skills – PPVT-III, FACES 3 tasks Academic Attitude – CBI academic competence (parent & provider reports) Socio-Emotional Composites: Parent report – CBI extroversion, CBI considerateness, & SCBE Provider report – CBI extroversion, CBI considerateness, & SCBE Child Development Measures Younger Children (6 to 35 mos; n = 121) Cognitive Outcomes Mullen Scales of Early Learning (Mullen, 1995) Social-emotional Outcomes Brief Infant Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (BITSEA; Briggs-Gowan & Carter, 2001) Older Children (3 to 6 yrs; n = 186) Cognitive Outcomes Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test III (PPVT-III; Dunn & Dunn, 1997) Family And Child Experiences Survey – social awareness task, color name, & counting (FACES research team, modified from Mason & Stewart, 1989) Academic Attitude - Classroom Behavior Inventory, academic competence subscale (CBI; Schaefer & Edgerton, 1978) Social-emotional Outcomes CBI – extroversion & considerateness subscales Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation (SCBE-30; LaFreniere & Dumas, 1996) Global quality varied with communities and child age Types of Care Varied in Global Quality Data Collection Procedure 4 urban communities in Indiana (2002 to 2003): St. Joseph (South Bend), Marion (Indianapolis), Allen (Fort Wayne), Lake (Gary, Hammond, East Chicago) Participant recruitment: Government agency offices (e.g., WIC) Public places (e.g., public libraries) Adult schools (e.g., GED classes, technical college) 2½ hour observation in child care setting to assess global, structural, and process quality Observations and assessments of the child’s cognitive and social-emotional development Parent survey Demographic information Rating scales on their child’s cognitive and socio- emotional development Child care provider survey Demographic information Rating scales on the target child’s cognitive and socio- emotional development How did quality compare for younger and older children? Quality Variables Infants/ToddlersPreschoolers M (SD) ECERS/FDCRS Global Quality (1- 7)3.06 (1.17)4.30 (1.40) Child-Adult Ratio4.69 (2.99)6.32 (2.86) Caregiver General Education Level (1- 6)2.69 (1.01)3.14 (.94) Caregiver Specialized Education (CD/ECE) 24.8%52.2% Number of Years in Experience (caregiver)9.85 (9.03)10.68 (8.48) Caregiver-Child Relationship (1- 5)3.85 (.38)4.06 (.41) Parent-Caregiver Relationship (1- 5; parent)4.08 (.56)4.11 (.52) Parent-Caregiver Relationship (1- 5; caregiver)4.04 (.54)4.02 (.56) Caregiver Sensitivity (1- 4)3.12 (.66)3.41 (.45) Adult Responsive Interactions (%) (25.26) (28.85) Caregiver High Level Talk.21 (.14).26 (.18) Children’s Activity Cognitive Level (0- 3).91 (.38) 1.13 (.48)