Description
This thesis assesses the influence of certain licensing-related predictors of individual Family Child Care (FCC) quality on the statewide quality ratings of FCCs in early learning Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs). QRISs have become the primary policy tool for assessing and improving the quality of child care and early learning in states across the country. Quality in FCCs is of particular concern because research has shown that care in these settings is of typically lower quality than center-based care. Quality of care is important because it impacts children’s kindergarten readiness and academic outcomes through high school. Understanding the ways in which FCC licensing regulations predict the quality ratings of FCCs in state QRISs can help policy-makers and public administrators identify opportunities to adjust licensing regulations and related systems to help FCCs achieve higher quality and earn higher quality ratings. While previous research has demonstrated a relationship between some “regulable” aspects of child care and observationally-assessed individual FCC quality, the results from this study show that licensing regulations related to these regulable characteristics of FCCs have a complicated relationship with states’ overall FCC ratings. Three of the five licensing variables studied are significantly predictive of a state’s proportion of rated FCCs achieving QRIS ratings indicative of medium to high quality: more annual training hours, requirements for high school graduation or above, and greater frequency of monitoring visits. However, only requirements for high school graduation or above and greater frequency of monitoring visits are predictive of larger proportions of rated FCCs earning medium or high quality QRIS ratings in a state. Requirements for more annual training hours are predictive of lower proportions of rated FCCs earning medium to high quality QRIS ratings in a state. Mandates for participation in QRIS among certain groups of FCCs, including those receiving state funding, are also predictive of lower proportions of FCCs earning medium to high quality QRIS ratings. The implications of these findings are discussed.
