More Evidence that Quality Matters in Child Care

The parenting, child care and early learning community is abuzz this morning with news of the latest results from a large national study on the long-term impact of child care.  The study, which is to be published today in the May-June issue of Child Development, showed that children in high-quality settings had significantly higher outcomes on tests of cognitve growth at 15 compared to those in less-quality environments.

This morning the Washington Post hosted a webchat with Margaret Burchinal, a senior scientist at the FPG Child Development Institute, who was involved in the study. (The lead author was Deborah Lowe Vandell, education professor at the University of California at Irvine.) Burchinal provided helpful context and answered parents questions about what this research means. For example, she offered these succinct points on defining what “high-quality” means in a child care setting:

“High quality child care included caregivers who were responsive and sensitive with the target child,” Burchinal said. “They talked frequently with that child, and provided learning experiences that were fun and appropriate for children that age.”  On the other hand, she said, “low quality care involved a setting in which the caregiver did not interact often with the children and, when he/she did, tended to be harsh and critical.”

For more coverage of the study, which was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, see the Post’s article and other news stories, such as those from Bloomberg Business Week, courtesy HealthDay News, and the Wall Street Journal.