Predictive Value of the Parent Guide to Quality Day Care Centers: Study II

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to establish, through a replication in a second community, the reliability and predictive validity of the Parent Guide to Quality Day Care Centers. 28 women were asked to use the items in the guide as a basis for observing in 11 licensed day care centers prejudged by child care experts to provide either above- or below-average services. Paralleling our initial research, a significant number of the items (91%) were reliably observed more frequently in centers prejudged to provide above-average services than in centers prejudged to provide below-average services. We concluded that parents must use observational guidelines to help them select day-care programs above average in quality because day-care licensing has limited value.