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Quality counts! Assessing the quality of daycare services based on the Quebec longitudinal study of child development

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IRPP Choices, Vol. 11, no. 5
Author: 
Japel, Christa; Tremblay, Richard E. & Côté, Sylvana
Format: 
Report
Publication Date: 
13 Dec 2005

Excerpts from the news release: With the Quebec model of child care figuring prominently in the debate about family policy in the federal election campaign, the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP.org) has released Quality Counts! a report that presents the results of a study conducted between 2000 and 2003 to evaluate the quality of the services offered in more than 1,500 daycare settings in Quebec. The report also examines the link between the socio-economic status of families and the quality of the daycare settings attended by their children. Written by Christa Japel (UQAM), Richard E. Tremblay (University of Montreal) and Sylvana Côté (University of Montreal), the report shows that: - The majority (61 percent) of the daycare settings met the criteria for minimal quality (that is, they ensured the health and safety of children, but their educational component was minimal). - Just over one-quarter of the daycare settings provided services whose quality was good, very good or excellent (that is, they offered services that were appropriate to the children's stage of development and a stimulating and educational environment). In 12 percent of daycare settings, the quality was inadequate. - Nonprofit early childhood centres (centres de la petite enfance, or CPEs) generally offered better-quality services than other types of daycare settings. One-third of nonprofit CPEs were of good, very good or excellent quality, compared to only 14 percent of for-profit daycares and 10 percent of unregulated home-based daycares. - Conversely, more than one-quarter of for-profit daycares and unregulated home-based settings were of inadequate quality.

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