Group Care for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos

Deborah J. Norris, Diane M. Horm

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9780367592882
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351243797
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Early Childhood Education

This volume extends the knowledge base supporting research-informed child care for infants and toddlers, while simultaneously highlighting areas of study ripe for future research. The authors demonstrate from a systems perspective, that the experiences and outcomes of very young children in child care are influenced by characteristics of and interactions between the children, adults, and settings. Varying methodological approaches as well as the utilization of newer data collection instruments inform the field's understanding of current practices and procedures while offering guidance for future programming and policy. In turn, the chapters highlight a plethora of open questions and a need for a new generation of research to support the field of infant/toddler care. Future challenges are evident in the recognition of the inadequate nature of our current measures of child outcomes and classroom processes, the field's unmet promise to incorporate interdisciplinary perspectives, and the need for newer methodological designs that blend the strengths of quantitative and qualitative approaches.

These issues are important given the growing demand for infant/toddler care and the increasing recognition of the unique role of this age period in serving as the foundation for all later development. This book was originally published as a special issue of Early Education and Development.

Measuring the Multifaceted Nature of Infant and Toddler Care Quality

Peter L. Mangione, Kerry Kriener-Althen, and Jennifer Marcella

ABSTRACT
Research Findings: The quality of group care infants and toddlers experience relates to their concurrent and later development. Recent quality improvement initiatives point to the need for ecologically valid measures that assess the multifaceted nature of child care quality. In this article, we present the psychometric properties of an infant and toddler quality assessment tool, the Program for Infant and Toddler Care Program Assessment Rating Scale (PITC PARS). Descriptive data on 222 center-based classrooms and family child care programs were used to examine concurrent validity, and a subsample of 101 center-based classrooms serving infants was used to examine the factor structure of this measure. Examination of the bivariate correlations with other commonly used measures of infant and toddler child care quality provided evidence of concurrent validity. Factor analysis suggested that the PITC PARS measures 3 distinct yet related dimensions of global child care quality. Practice or Policy: The results of this study suggest that the PITC PARS can continue to be used by practitioners for self-study. Furthermore, the PITC PARS may be an effective tool in the context of policy initiatives aimed at improving the quality of infant/toddler care programs.

Development that occurs during the infant and toddler period provides the foundation for later learning (Lally, 2010). Research indicates that the quality of group care infants and toddlers experience relates to their concurrent and later development (Loeb, Fuller, Kagan, & Carrol, 2004; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [NICHD] Early Child Care Research Network, 2000; Vandell, Belsky, Burchinal, Steinberg, & Vandergrift, 2010). Yet quality of care has been shown to be quite variable and, on average, low in infant and toddler settings (Helburn et al., 1995; Kreader, Ferguson, & Lawrence, 2005; Phillips, Mekos, Scarr, McCartney, & Abbott-Shim, 2000; Phillips, Voran, Kisker, Howes, & Whitebook, 1994; Pungello & Kurtz-Costes, 1999; Schmit & Matthews, 2013). In response to widespread low-quality early care and education, policymakers have invested in quality improvement initiatives (Zaslow, Tout, & Martinez-Beck, 2010). The numerous initiatives to improve quality point to the need for ecologically valid measures that assess the multidimensional nature of child care quality (Bisceglia, Perlman, Schaak, & Jenkins, 2009; Child Trends, 2009; Paulsell, Tout, & Maxwell, 2013). In comparison to research on preschool quality, much less research has focused on the assessment of infant and toddler care quality (Sandstrom, Moodie, & Halle, 2011). In light of the need for additional investigation of measurement of infant and toddler care program quality, we present the psychometric properties of an infant and toddler quality assessment tool, the Program for Infant and Toddler Care Program Assessment Rating Scale (PITC PARS).

Introducing the PITC PARS

The PITC PARS was developed to assess the implementation of the PITC, which aims to improve quality by promoting responsive, relationship-based nurturance that supports young children’s social-emotional, cognitive, language, and physical development (Bornstein & Bornstein, 1995; Lally & Mangione, 2006; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). At the outset of the PITC in 1986, a measure that emphasized interactions and relationships within a holistic view of infant and toddler care quality did not yet exist, which prompted the development of the PARS as a tool for self-study. As the definition of infant and toddler care quality has been refined over the past few decades, the PITC PARS continues to reflect the research literature’s current conceptualization of quality and, we believe, can be used in broader quality improvement contexts. The five subscales of the PITC PARS represent domains of child care quality for infants and toddlers: (a) Quality of Adult’s Interactions With Children; (b) Family Partnerships, Cultural Responsiveness, and Inclusive Care; (c) Organization of Group Care; (d) Physical Environment; and (e) Routines and Record Keeping. The PITC PARS features multimethod assessment, including direct observation, director interviews, and document review, to measure the caregiving interactions, care environment, program policies, and administrative structures that promote responsive, relationship-based care for infants and toddlers. The PITC PARS is designed to assess infant and toddler care quality across both family child care and center-based programs.

Defining infant and toddler care quality

In general, early care and education quality refers to “the aspects of the environment and children’s experiences that nurture child development” (Layzer & Goodson, 2006, p. 558). The research literature has identified quality as global quality, structural quality, and process quality. Specifically, global quality has been conceptualized as a multidimensional construct encompassing both structural and process quality (Child Trends, 2009; Kreader et al., 2005). Structural quality includes the typically regulated features of child care classrooms, such as adult–child ratios, group size, and teacher education, whereas process quality refers to caregiving provided to the child in the form of sensitive adult–child interactions (Child Trends, 2009; Kreader et al., 2005). Structural quality provides the supports for process quality, which ultimately relates to improved child outcomes (Child Trends, 2009; Kreader et al., 2005; National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center, 2009). Although these components of quality most often are studied in the context of center-based care, they also apply when children receive care in family child care programs. Throughout this article, we use the term care teacher to emphasize the dual roles of caring and teaching for infants and toddlers, inclusive of both center-based teachers and family child care providers (California Department of Education, 2006). To remain consistent with the research literature, we use other terms, such as caregiver, teacher, or adult, interchangeably with care teacher as appropriate.

Previous research has documented links between structural and process quality. Aspects of structural quality such as teacher training, teacher wages, parent fees, teacher education, ratios, and group size correlate with process quality for infant and toddler center-based classrooms (Helburn et al., 1995; Howes, Whitebook, & Phillips, 1992; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1996; Phillips et al., 2000). Similar associations between features of structural and process quality have been found in family child care programs (Doherty, Forer, Lero, Goelman, & LaGrange, 2006; Hughes-Belding, Hegland, Stein, Sideris, & Bryant, 2012). In addition to the link between structural and process quality, some studies suggest that process quality relates to children’s developmental outcomes. In particular, indicators of process quality in both center-based and family child care programs such as positive caregiving and language stimulation during the first 3 years of life have been positively related to children’s cognitive, language, and social-emotional outcomes (Forry et al., 2013; Loeb et al., 2004; NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 2000).

Although numerous studies have shown the benefits of high-quality care on children’s developmental outcomes, child care centers often fall short of the minimal recommendations for structural and process quality. Several studies have reported that infant and toddler classrooms serving families from diverse socioeconomic statuses do not meet state or other guidelines for adult–child ra...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction: Group Care for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos
• 1. Measuring the Multifaceted Nature of Infant and Toddler Care Quality
• 2. A Mixed Methods Investigation of Maternal Perspectives on Transition Experiences in Early Care and Education
• 3. Experiences of Parents and Professionals in Well-Established Continuity of Care Infant Toddler Programs
• 4. Continuity of Care, Caregiver–Child Interactions, and Toddler Social Competence and Problem Behaviors
• 5. The Four Roles of a Master Toddler Teacher
• 6. Teacher–Child Interactions in Early Head Start Classrooms: Associations With Teacher Characteristics
• 7. Attachment Predicts College Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Skills for Working With Infants, Toddlers, and Families
• Index