FEDERAL REGULATIONS AND THE LIVES OF CHILDREN IN DAY CARE

Abstract

The National Day Care Study investigated relationships between regulatable characteristics of day care centers-in particular, staff/child ratios, group size, and staff qualifications-and the costs and quality of care experienced by preschool children, especially children from low-income families in federally subsidized care. The study found that group size, the total number of children in a classroom, was associated with several measures of the quality of the social environment and of children's development. In small groups, as opposed to large, children were more cooperative, more likely to engage in spontaneous verbalization and creative/intellectual activities, and less likely to wander aimlessly or be uninvolved in activities. They also made more rapid gains on standardized tests of cognitive and linguistic growth. The study further found that caregivers with education or training specifically related to young children showed a relatively high degree of social interaction with children (praising, comforting, responding, questioning. and instructing) and that children in their care made relatively rapid gains on standardized tests. Staff/child ratios were related to some aspects of caregiver behavior, but these relationships were less consistently indicative of quality than those exhibited by group size or caregiver education/training. Because the latter characteristics are relatively low-cost components of day care, the study concluded that the federal government could buy better care at lower cost by giving them greater emphasis in its purchasing standards.