ED386297 PS023512
Title: Cost, Quality and Child Outcomes in Child Care Centers. Technical
Report, Public Report, and Executive Summary.
Author(s): Helburn, Suzanne W., Ed.
Author Affiliation: Colorado Univ., Denver. Dept. of Economics.(BBB32902)
Pages: 575
Publication Date: June 1995
Notes: Volume 1: Technical Report (392 pages); Volume 2: Public Report
(85 pages); Volume 3: Executive Summary (17 pages) (Same as Chapter
15 of Volume 1). The study also received support from the William
T. Grant Foundation; the JFM Foundation; and the A. L. Mailman Foundation.
Sponsoring Agency: Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia, PA. (BBB28123)@U.S.
West Foundation. (BBB30974)@David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los
Altos, CA. (BBB31498)@Carnegie Corp. of New York, NY. (QPX12280)
Available from: EDRS Price MF02/PC23 Plus Postage.
Availability: Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes Study, Economics Department,
Campus Box 159, P.O. Box 173364, University of Colorado at Denver,
Denver, CO 80217-3364 (Technical Report, $40; Executive Summary, $8;
Public Report, $15. Make check payable to "Cost & Quality
Study").
Language: English
Document Type: Reports--Research (143)
Geographic Source: U.S.; Colorado
Journal Announcement: RIEJAN1996
Target Audience: Practitioners; Parents
Conducted
at a time when increasing numbers of the nation's young children
are in child care and when the American public is concerned about
children's readiness for school, the Cost, Quality, and Child Outcomes
Study provides the first comprehensive econometric and psychometric
analysis of child care and children's outcomes. The study was designed
to examine the relationships among the costs of child care and the
nature and effects of children's child care experiences. Cost and
quality data were collected through visits to 50 non-profit and
50 for-profit centers in each of four states: California, Colorado,
Connecticut, and North Carolina. Trained data collectors conducted
interviews with and distributed questionnaires to center directors,
teachers, and parents; they also observed two randomly chosen classrooms
in each center. Data were then collected on 826 children from preschool
classrooms visited earlier. The study found that while child care
varies widely within and between states and sectors of this industry,
most child care is mediocre in quality, sufficiently poor to interfere
with children's emotional and intellectual development. Market forces
constrain the cost of child care and at the same time depress the
quality of care provided to children. It costs somewhat more to
provide good quality care than to produce poor quality care; however,
higher costs are not obviously reflected in parent fees, which are
relatively similar in centers of different quality. Based on the
findings, the following recommendations were made: (1) launch efforts
to educate parents on identifying high quality programs; (2) implement
higher state standards; (3) increase investments in child care staff;
and (4) assure adequate financing and support of child care. (BGC)
Descriptors: Child Rearing; Costs; *Day Care Centers; *Day Care
Effects; *Early Childhood Education; Econometrics; Educational Economics;
*Educational Quality; Emotional Development; Intellectual Development;
Organizational Effectiveness; Outcomes of Education; Program Effectiveness;
School Readiness
Identifiers: *Child Care Costs
