October 18, 2008
Improving 'mediocre' quality of child care is goal of two Iowa State University professors
Hegland and Peterson: 'Parents deserve more information about the quality of Iowa child care'
"Research studies have consistently shown that the observed quality of Iowa child care centers and child development homes is mediocre." say Susan Hegland and Carla Peterson, associate professors in the department of human development and family studies at Iowa State University.
In their research, Hegland and Peterson found that parents generally report they are satisfied with the quality of child care their kids receive; however, when the researchers probed more deeply, they discovered that many parents viewed past child care providers negatively. The same parents who reported being satisfied with their current providers, said they stopped using past providers because, for instance, their toddlers came home filthy or their 4-year-olds knew too much about soap operas, according to the two researchers.
Parents were not crying out to legislators that they were unhappy about child care, but research revealed issues with overall quality, which led Iowa legislators to approve a voluntary, five star quality rating system (QRS) for the state rather than passing additional government regulations. "Some states have gone to the QRS system in order to get information out to parents that will theoretically let the market drive the quality of care that is being provided. You can implement a [five star] quality rating system without changing the level of regulation. If parents have more information, they can choose the quality of care they want for their children," said Hegland.
Iowa legislators passed legislation in 2006 enabling the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) to establish a QRS, and Hegland and Peterson were awarded a $613,000 contract to evaluate the environments offered by child care providers who are applying for a star rating.
The quality of the environment is one of five areas in the QRS documentation. Hegland's and Peterson's staff will conduct three-hour observations in child care facilities around the state. During the observations, they will look at how adults interact with children, how children use the materials that are provided to them, and how adults make those materials available and accessible to children in order to foster their language, reasoning and social skills.
The environmental rating scales they use are designed to measure the quality of the social and physical environments in child care centers and providers� homes in Iowa. These centers and private homes serve children from birth through school age. In return, child care practitioners and supervisors receive valid and reliable feedback from the assessments, so they can take steps to improve the quality of their programs.
Both parents are working in over 69 percent of homes with kids under the age of 6 in Iowa, according to the U.S. Department of Health Administration for Children and Families. This means that young children often spend 10 hours a day with their child care providers. If children spend 10 hours each day in child care centers, a variety of play and work spaces should be available to them said Hegland.
As Hegland and Peterson's staff observe the quality of an environment, they ask the following questions.
- Are there a variety of materials available to suit children of different developmental levels with different creative interests?
- What materials are available and how much of the day do the kids have access to those materials?
- What are adults doing while the kids are playing?
- Are adults interacting with the kids?
- What do adults do to facilitate engagement with the materials when the kids are playing?
"Because we have so much experience with environmental rating scales, they asked us to handle this component of the QRS. This component is really critical because all the other components of the QRS, except the health consultant's report, are what the provider says on paper: a self report. You need somebody from the outside to objectively look at the program and ask if caregivers are nurturing, warm and caring toward children," Hegland said. "You could hire someone who is a licensed teacher, but who got a D in student teaching. That teacher is willing to work for $7.50 an hour. We argued for the assessment component of the QRS so somebody could go in and see what the environment was really like."
In the star rating system, family child care providers and child care centers will receive one star if they are registered or licensed with the state and if they meet the basic minimum standards to ensure that children are cared for in a safe and secure environment. "Licensing is always a base standard. When we talk about increasing quality, first of all, we must make sure that providers meet the basic standards. Then, we will let the market decide what level of quality is necessary beyond that minimum," said Hegland.
For levels two through five, child care providers must meet additional requirements regarding: administrative training; staff development planning; documenting the environmental quality of the center or home; encouraging family involvement; setting higher nutritional standards; and increasing health and safety practices. "All of these things must be documented," Peterson said.
The QRS system became operational on July 1, 2006. Tammy Bormann's child care business in Urbandale was the first in the state to earn a ranking of five stars.
Before a family provider or center applies for an environmental assessment of their program quality to use for a star rating, they are asked to complete an Iowa State University Extension training program.
"Extension has trained over 2,000 caregivers and administrators across the state about how to achieve quality and how to put an action plan in place to improve their quality. Before we come out for a site visit, providers have been through training that explains why the things that we are looking at in their facility are important and what needs to be in place for children to learn. The providers learn how to assess their own quality and how to improve it in anticipation of entering into the QRS system officially in the next few months. The training is really taking off," said Hegland.
Related link: Additional information about the QRS is on the Department of Human Services Web site at www.dhs.state.ia.us/iqrs.
Contacts:
Susan Hegland, Human Development and Family Studies, (515) 294-4616.
Carla Peterson, Human Development and Family Studies, (515) 294-4898.
Cathy Curtis, College of Human Science, (515) 294-8175.
Lori Runkle, College of Human Sci
