Child Care

How Is Child Care Quality Measured 2

Last Updated Oct 6, 2008 00:12 PM

Another commonly used process measure is the Caregiver Interaction Scale (Arnett, 1989) that rates teachers’ sensitivity during interactions with children. This 26-item measure yields three scores (sensitivity—warm, attentive, engaged; harshness—critical, punitive; detachment—low levels of interaction, interest, or supervision) which are combined to create an overall caregiver quality score. The ratings are made after two 45-minute observations conducted on two separate occasions by two separate observers.

The Assessment Profile (Abbott-Shim & Sibley, 1992a, 1992b) assesses different aspects of quality, namely features related to health and safety, physical facilities, and individualized child services. Different forms of the instrument are available for child care homes and centers. These forms list individual items that are viewed as exemplars of (a) healthy, safe settings, (b) rich physical environments, and (c) settings that meet the needs of adult staff. Individual items are scored using a yes/no format, with “yes” designating items that were either observed or reported by staff. These items can be scored reliably (see NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1996). Caregivers have been observed to offer more positive caregiving in settings that receive higher Profile scores (NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1996, in press-a).

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