Quality of Family Child Care Homes in Rural and Urban Areas and Child Outcomes

• In Event: Improving Quality and Access to Early Care and Education in the United States

Abstract

Background
More than 3 million children ages birth through five are cared for in family child care (FCC) homes in the U.S. (National Survey of Early Care and Education, 2016). Findings indicate this type of care is often utilized by low-income families, especially in rural communities (De Marco et al., 2015; Porter et al., 2010). This is important because by age three, children from low-income families score lower on achievement measures than their higher income peers; however, high quality care can serve as a protective factor (McCartney et al., 2007). Understanding what affects the quality of FCC homes thus has implications for low-income children’s development, particularly for rural children, who are more likely to lag behind urban children in literacy skills at the start of kindergarten (Grace et al., 2006). The purpose of this study was to assess quality of childcare in FCC homes in low-income areas and its relation to children’s literacy skills, and to compare quality of care in rural and urban regions.

Method
This sample was part of a longitudinal study of FCC providers and the children in their care who agreed to participate in a one-year pilot program with the state’s Department of Education from two regions, one rural (n = 14 providers; n = 16 children) and one urban (n = 16; n = 22 children), in one southeastern state. All providers were female, 96% identified as Black/African American, and mean gross income was $15,000 to $19,999. Children (M = 3.40 years; SD = 0.49; R = 2.75-4.75) were 53% female and 95% Black/African American. Quality of care was assessed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), a measure of teacher-child interactions linked to children’s learning with a 7-point scale (1 = low quality, 7 = high quality). Children’s literacy skills were assessed using the letter-word identification subtest of the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Early Cognitive and Academic Development (WJ-IV) with a standardized norm score of 100.

Results
Independent samples t-tests were estimated to determine if quality of childcare differed by rural versus urban region (Figure 1). Results indicated that region did impact quality of childcare, with rural providers demonstrating higher CLASS scores than urban providers. Ordinary least squares regression analysis was estimated to determine whether region predicted children’s literacy skills; region did predict children’s literacy skills, with rural children demonstrating higher WJ-IV scores than urban children (Table 1).

Discussion
The purpose of this study was to understand whether differences of quality existed between rural and urban FCC homes, a largely understudied area of early education. Providers in rural settings demonstrated higher levels of childcare quality which in turn led to higher levels of literacy skills for the children in their care; however, children from both regions demonstrated a five-month delay in literacy skills from average children their age. Although this sample is small, these findings demonstrate the need for more research on the quality of childcare in FCC homes and subsequent impacts on children’s development.

Authors

• Erin Harmeyer, Rutgers University - New Brunswick
  Presenting Author

• Brittany Wittenberg Camp, Phoenix Children’s Hospital
  Non-Presenting Author

• Salimata Fall, Louisiana State University
  Non-Presenting Author