An investigation of the impact of child care quality on child outcomes using structural equation modeling

The quality of a child care setting is believed by many child care researchers to have an impact on the development of children in child care. While a considerable amount of research has been done regarding the impact of child care quality on child outcomes, an examination of literature reviews on the topic reveals that there is a lack of consensus in the field on the question of whether child care quality has a substantial impact on children's development.;The present study assessed the impact child care quality has on child outcomes. A dataset from the NICHD Early Child Care Study involving 878 subjects was used. Analyses utilizing structural equation modeling indicated that child care quality has a substantial impact on children's development, even when the influence of demographic and family variables is taken into account.