Child care for children with and without disabilities: The provider, observer, and parent perspectives

Lisa Knoche, Carla A. Peterson, Carolyn P Edwards, Hyun Joo Jeon

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

46 Scopus citations

Abstract

This three-phase study, part of a larger study conducted by the Midwest Child Care Research Consortium (MCCRC), investigated the characteristics of child care providers in inclusive and non-inclusive center-based classrooms and family child care homes, the observed quality of care in a subset of these programs, and families' perceptions of quality and satisfaction with child care services. A telephone survey of 2022 randomly selected Midwestern providers, 36% of whom provided inclusive services, revealed that inclusive providers rated themselves higher on most quality-related indicators. Inclusion status was related to observed quality in family childcare homes (n = 132), with non-inclusive homes higher, while trends in the opposite direction were observed in preschool center-based classrooms (n = 112) but not in infant/toddler center-based classrooms (n = 105). Six percent of the 1325 parents surveyed reported parenting a child with a disability. These parents indicated less income, and more frequent changes in child care settings than other families, and reported the quality of their children's child care as good, particularly if center-based. Improved access to inclusive child care services and enhanced training opportunities related to serving children with disabilities and inclusion, especially for family child care providers, is recommended.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)93-109
Number of pages17
JournalEarly Childhood Research Quarterly
Volume21
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2006

Keywords

  • Child care
  • Children with disabilities
  • Early childhood workforce
  • Parent perceptions
  • Quality and inclusive settings

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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