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CHILD CARE QUALITY: STRUCTURAL QUALITY
NATIONAL CHILD CARE STAFFING STUDY
Measure: Child care quality items from the National Child Care Staffing Study teaching staff and director interviews that measure teacher education and experience
Note: The National Child Care Staffing Study (NCCSS) is a longitudinal study of child care centers conducted in 1988, 1992, and 1997. This description of child care quality items comes from the staff and director interviews completed for the original (1988) study. The items discussed here measure aspects of structural quality, namely descriptions of the education, qualifications, and experience of teaching staff of child care centers.
Source
The 1988 NCCSS was coordinated by the Child Care Employee Project staff and funded by a consortium of foundations, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, the Foundation for Child Development, the A.L. Mailman Family Foundation, and the Spunk Fund, Inc. (Whitebook, Howes, & Phillips, 1990, p. ii). Marcy Whitebook, Carollee Howes, and Deborah Phillips, the principal investigators of the NCCSS, worked (at the time of the 1988 study) at the Child Care Employee Project, the University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Virginia, respectively. The sponsor of the study, the Child Care Employee Project, changed its name to the Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW) in 1997. (CCW was known as the National Center for the Early Childhood Work Force between 1994 and 1997.) In November 2002, CCW became a program within the American Federation of Teachers Educational Foundation.
Population Assessed
The original study sample consisted of 227 child care centers in five metropolitan areas; within these 227 centers, researchers observed 643 classrooms and interviewed 1,309 teaching staff (including both teachers and assistant teachers). The NCCSS only focused on center-based programs that served children through 5 years old, operated at least 11 months a year for a minimum of 6 hours a day, served a minimum of 15 children, and employed no less than six staff members. “In summary, there is some potential for bias in the sample given the higher participation rates for non-profit than for-profit centers, centers serving low-income families, and centers that may offer somewhat higher quality care than is typical in the Study sites [metropolitan areas]. However, as a result of the stratified, replacement sampling strategy, the final sample of centers closely matches the distribution of centers across Census tracts and urban and suburban residential areas” (Whitebook et al., 1990, p. 19).
Because of the decision to focus on five metropolitan areas, the NCCSS did not provide a nationally representative sample of all child care centers, but instead “sought to capture the diversity of the nation’s centers in numbers approximating their distribution in the five Study sites…The participating sites [metropolitan areas], as planned, are highly diverse with respect to their economic contexts, demographics, and regulatory climates” (Whitebook et al., 1990, pp.13, 14).
The five metropolitan areas were ethnically diverse, with a variety of racial/ethnic groups represented. Blacks were the largest minority group in Atlanta and Detroit, Hispanics were the largest in Phoenix, and Asians and Native Americans formed the greatest portion of the minority population in Seattle. The NCCSS selected centers that served children through 5 years old, and “across all participating centers, the research team observed 643 classrooms [in 1988]: 85 (13%) infant, 151 (23%) toddler, 313 (49%) preschool, and 94 (15%) mixed-age classrooms” (Whitebook et al., 1990, p. 19). In Atlanta, the sample of 255 children consisted of 36 percent infants, 22 percent toddlers, and 42 percent preschoolers.
Staff Interview
The proportion of child care teachers who were women, their age distribution, and their ethnic backgrounds changed little between 1977 when an earlier study was conducted and 1988. Interview responses indicate that 97 percent of the teaching staff in our study were female and 81 percent were 40 years old or younger. Approximately one-third of the teaching staff in 1977 and 1988 were members of minorities. Although the percentage of minority teachers was higher in all cities than the percentage of minorities in the community at large, the percentage in some cities was three times as high (Whitebook et al., 1990, p. 32).
Director Interview
Compared with the administrative directors of the centers, teaching staff were younger, more often female, and more often minorities. Only 21 percent of directors, compared with over 50 percent of teaching staff, were under 30 compared; 6 percent of directors, compared with 3 percent of teaching staff, were male; 80 percent of the directors, compared with 68 percent of the teaching staff, were White (Whitebook et al., 1990, p. 34).
Periodicity
Data were collected between February and August 1988 for the original study. The 1992 and 1997 follow-ups also included director interviews, but did not include staff interviews.
Subscales/Components
Staff Interview
Questions about teacher education and experience occur in two sections of the staff interview of the 1988 NCCSS. Section B: Child Care Experience asks teaching staff about their amount of experience in child care. Section E: Educational Background inquires about teacher education and certification and the amounts and type of child care training that staff have had.
Director Interview
In the 1988 NCCSS, Section C: General Staff Characteristics of the director interview asks about the qualifications of the center’s staff. Most of the questions inquire if the center director requires staff (of various types) to have education, experience, or credentials beyond licensing requirements and to identify what those additional qualifications are. Section I: Staff Education, Experience and Wages asks the director, as part of a table where the director describes the center’s staff, to identify the highest level of education, area of specialized training, type of credentialing, and previous experience of each staff member.
Procedures for Administration
Staff Interview
Trained and experienced research assistants interviewed sampled teaching staff while on a site visit to each child care center for the 1988 NCCSS. These one-on-one interviews were completed after classroom observations. Interviews lasted between one and two hours.
Director Interview
A trained and experienced site coordinator interviewed the center director while on a site visit to each child care center. These one-on-one interviews marked the first step in data collection at each center. Interviews lasted three hours on average.
(For more information on administration procedures, see pages 21–23 of Whitebook et al., 1990.)
Psychometrics/Data Quality
Similar questions on wages, benefits, and working conditions were asked in both the teaching staff and director interviews in the 1988 NCCSS. Directors consistently gave higher responses to these questions than did teachers. Where answers from both directors and teaching staff were available, analyses done for the NCCSS typically used the responses given by teaching staff for reasons including larger sample size and higher expected reliability (Whitebook et al., 1990, p. 22).
Staff Interview
“Test-retest reliability (two interviews per staff) for [the teaching staff] interview was computed for 10 child care teaching personnel not participating in the NCCSS. Test-retest reliability across all items was r = .79 (range = .71 to .92)” (Whitebook et al., 1990, p. 22).
Director Interview
“Test-retest reliability (two interviews per director) for [the center director] interview was computed for 10 directors not participating in the Study. Test-retest reliability across all items was r = .82 (range = .79 to .94)” (Whitebook et al., 1990, pp. 21–22).
Languages Available
Other than English, information about the languages in which this measure is available is not readily available.
Items Included
Staff Interview
Whitebook, M., Howes, C., & Phillips, D. (1988b). National Child Care Staffing Study staff interview. Oakland, CA: Child Care Employee Project.
Section B: Child Care Experience questions come from the end of that section. All questions from Section E: Educational Background are reported here.
Section B: Child Care Experience
The questions in this section ask about your professional background both in this center and prior to your employment here.
DEFINITIONS: You will need to use the following definitions as you complete this section:
Teacher refers to persons in charge of a group or classroom of children, often with staff supervisory responsibilities. This category includes head or lead teachers.
Assistant Teacher refers to persons working under the supervision of a teacher.
Aide refers to persons working under the supervision of a teacher or assistant teacher.
Teacher-Director refers to a person with both teaching and administrative duties.
Administrative Director refers to persons who have administrative responsibilities only.
B12. How many years have you worked in the field of early education and child care? Working means 10 hours or more a week. Include paid and non-paid experience, and include your time in this program. (Circle one)
Less than one year
1 to 3 years
Over 3 years to 5 years
Over 5 years to 7 years
Over 7 years to 10 years
Over 10 years to 15 years
Over 15 years
B13. In months, how long have you worked in this program?
B14. In months, how long have you held your current position in this program?
B15. At what level did you start in this program? (Circle one)
Teacher
Assistant Teacher
Aide
Teacher-Director
Administrative Director
Other: specify: ______________________________
B16. What did you do immediately prior to working in this center? (Circle one)
Held another job in child care
Held a job in a field related to young children, but not child care
Held a job not related to young children
Was in school
Was not working
If (a), how long were you in this job? __________ months
Why did you leave?____________________________________
B17. How many different jobs of any kind did you hold in the 5 years prior to beginning to work at this center?
B18. How many of these jobs were in child care?
What is the longest period of time you worked in one of these child care jobs?
_________ months
Section E: Educational Background
The questions in this section ask about your educational background and current involvement in education and training.
E1. Please circle the highest educational level you have completed.
I have not completed high school
High school diploma or GED
Some college
IF circled any of the above, skip to question E4.
Associate of Arts (AA) degree
Bachelor’s (BA or BS) degree
Some graduate work
IF circled any of the above, skip to question E3.
Master’s degree
Some post-Master’s work
Ed.D. or Ph.D.
I have another post-Master’s degree
Go on to question E2.
E2. If you have a graduate degree (e.g., Master’s, Ed.D., Ph.D.) what area is it in? (Circle one)
Early Childhood Education
Elementary Education
Special Education
Another Field of Education
Child Development
Clinical/Counseling Psychology
Other Field of Psychology
Social Work
Nursing or other Health Field
Another field (Name: )
E3. If you have a college degree (Associate or Bachelor’s), what area did you major in? (Circle one)
Early Childhood Education
Elementary Education
Special Education
Another Field of Education
Psychology
Social Work
Nursing or Health-Related
Another field (Name: )
E4. Did you take any courses related to child care, early childhood education, or child development in high school?
[ ] yes [ ] no
E5. Have you ever had any specialized coursework or training in child care, early education, or
child development? (Exclude elementary and secondary education training.)
[ ] yes [ ] no
E6. Are you presently working toward a degree?
[ ] yes
What type of degree? ________________________
In what field? ______________________________
[ ] no
E7. Do you have? (Circle all that apply)
A state certificate in early childhood education
A state certification in elementary education
A state certificate in secondary education
A state certificate in special education
Another state education certificate
A Child Development Associate (CDA) credential
A license as a registered nurse (RN)
A license as a licensed practical nurse (LPN)
A certification or license as a social worker
A certification or license as a psychologist
A Certificate of Clinical Competence/Speech Pathologist (CCC/SP)
Other license, certificate or credential (specify) ___________________________
No license, certificate or credential
E8. Are you in the process of obtaining any of the licenses, certificates, or credentials listed in question E7?
[ ] yes
Which one? Use letter from above ______________
When do you expect to receive it? ___________________
[ ] no
E9. Did you enroll in any college courses for credit last year?
[ ] yes
Was the course in a child-related field? [ ] yes [ ] no
[ ] no
E10. Have you taken any courses in a vocational school?
[ ] yes
Were any of these courses related to child care, early childhood education, or child development? [ ] yes [ ] no
[ ] no
Ell. Have you received or are you receiving any form of child care training not mentioned above within the last 12 months?
[ ] no
[ ] yes
| What did or does this training consist of? | |
|---|---|
| One-time training : | Total Hours |
| a. Conference | |
| b. Workshop | |
| c. One-time In-Service training | |
| d. One-time Pre-Service training | |
| e. Other: SPECIFY | |
| On-going training: | |
| f. Correspondence Course | |
| g. Course at college or agency | |
| h. Child Development Associate | |
| i. Other in-service training | |
| j. Series of pre-service training | |
| k. Other: SPECIFY | |
E.12 Consider all the training you've ever had. Have you had any training in: (Circle all that you've taken. Then, for circled items, please tell us how useful this training was for your current work.)
| Not at all Useful | Moderately Useful | Extremely Useful | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child development | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Curriculum planning | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Working with parents | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Child abuse prevention | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Other health and safety | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Staff relations | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Stress reduction | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Program administration | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Advocacy work | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Work/Family conflict | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| Other: specify specify |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
E.13 Do you belong to any professional organizations?
[ ] yes
Which ones? (give names) ________________________________________
[ ] no
DIRECTOR INTERVIEW
Whitebook, M., Howes, C., & Phillips, D. (1988a). National Child Care Staffing Study director interview. Oakland, CA: Child Care Employee Project.
The general teacher education questions from the director interview occur at the end of Section C: General Staff Characteristics, in a separate topic called General Questions. The specific qualifications of each staff member are recorded as part of a table filled out by the center director in Section I: Staff Education, Experience and Wages. (The table itself is omitted here.) For staff definitions, see the staff interview above.
Section C: General Staff Characteristics
GENERAL QUESTIONS
C28. Do you require any entry level education beyond what is required by licensing regulations for the following staff?
| No | Yes | What? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teacher | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Assistant Teacher/Aide | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Teacher/Director | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Admin. Director | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
C29. Do you require any in-service or continuing education beyong what is required by licensing regulations for the following staff?
| No | Yes | What? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teacher | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Assistant Teacher/Aide | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Teacher/Director | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Admin. Director | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
C30. How many of your staff received 15 hours or more of training during the last 12 months?
| Teacher | ________________ |
| Assistant Teacher/Aide | ________________ |
| Teacher-Director | ________________ |
| Admin. Director | ________________ |
C31. Do you require any experience working with children beyond what is required by licensing regulations for the following staff?
| No | Yes | What? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teacher | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Assistant Teacher/Aide | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Teacher/Director | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Admin. Director | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
C32. Do you require any credential beyond what is required by licensing regulations for the following staff?
| No | Yes | What? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teacher | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Assistant Teacher/Aide | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Teacher/Director | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
| Admin. Director | ( ) | ( ) | __________ |
C33. Are teachers with degrees or credentials in early childhood education child development or some other child-related field given higher salaries than those with similar degrees in other non-related fields?
[ ] yes, they are given higher salaries
[ ] no, they are not given higher salaries
Section I: Staff Education, Experience and Wages
NOW TURN TO THE FORM ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE. We will use the same categories here as we used above (see page 12). You may have some of the requested information in your files; if not, you should simply rely on your best impressions. We do want the most accurate information possible.
DO NOT PUT ANY COMPLETE NAMES ON THE FORM. USE ONLY INITIALS.
[The center director fills out a table with a line for each staff member. The following questions are columns in that table. For columns where the director is supposed to indicate the letter(s) of the correct answer, the letters and “0” response (where applicable) are pre- typed in that column of the table, and the director is supposed to circle the correct letter(s).]
I4. Education - Highest Level. Indicate the highest level of education attained by each staff.
[Column heading: Education Level]
Less than high school diploma or GED
GED or high school diploma
Some college
Associate of Arts (AA) degree
Bachelor’s (BA or BS) degree
Some graduate work
Master’s degree
Ed.D. or Ph.D.
Another advanced or professional degree
I5. Education - Area. Indicate whether this staff member received any specialized training in the
following areas, whether in high school, vocational school, college, or graduate school. If no
specialized training, place a “0” in this column. (Do not include in-service training, workshops, or
conferences). [Column heading: Special Education]
Circle all that apply:
Early Childhood Education
Elementary Education
Special Education
Other Area of Education or Child Care
Psychology/Child Development
Social Work
Nursing/Other Health-Related Field
0 = no specialized training in the categories listed here
I6. Credential, License, Etc. Indicate if the staff member holds a license, credential, certificate, or registration in an area relevant to his/her work. If no license, etc. is held, place a “0” in this column. [Column heading: Certification or License]
Circle all that apply:
State certificate in early childhood education
State certification in elementary education
State certificate in secondary education
State certificate in special education
Another state education certificate
Child Development Associate (CDA) credential
License as a registered nurse (RN)
License as a licensed practical nurse (LPN)
Certification or license as a social worker
Certification or license as a psychologist
Certificate of Clinical Competence/Speech Pathologist (CCC/SP)
Other license, certificate or credential related to child care work: specify: _______________________________________________________
0 = no credential, license, or certificate listed here
I7. Experience. Indicate the total months of experience in your program. [Column heading: Experience In Program]
I8. Prior Experience. Indicate whether this staff member had experience in child care or some other child-related work that is directly relevant to his/her current position prior to coming to this program? [Column heading: Prior Experience]
Yes
No
Don’t know
References and Source Documents
Whitebook, M., Howes, C., & Phillips, D. (1990). Who cares? Child care teachers and the quality of care in America. Final report: National Child Care Staffing Study. Oakland, CA: Child Care Employee Project.
Whitebook, M., Howes, C., & Phillips, D. (1988a). National Child Care Staffing Study director interview. Oakland, CA: Child Care Employee Project.
Whitebook, M., Howes, C., & Phillips, D. (1988b). National Child Care Staffing Study staff interview. Oakland, CA: Child Care Employee Project.
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