Predictors for the quality of family child care: A meta-analysis

In early childhood, both prior to school entry and after the school day ends, many children are enrolled in family child care settings. In several countries, the quality of family child care (FCC) is rated with Environmental Rating Scales such as the FDCRS or FCCERS-R. This allows for a cross-cultural comparison of child care quality scores. This paper studies FCC quality with meta-analytic approaches to provide a counterpart to the investigation from Vermeer et al. (2016) with regard to family child care. The current study has two objectives. First, the meta-analysis provides an overview on the quality of family child care around the globe. Second, we systematically aggregated correlational findings on conditions that yield high-quality care. The systematic literature search in English and German-speaking electronic data bases (e.g., ERIC, PsycINFO, SocINDEX and FIS Bildung) revealed 213 papers published in the last 30 years. Of the 213 papers, 30 studies (with 52 independent samples) reported process quality scores measured with the FDCRS or FCCERS-R. Of them, 20 studies analyzed factors that predict quality of family child care. Overall, most studies were conducted in the United States and family child care quality was rated as medium across countries. Quality scores were not moderated by scale version or by country. Further, quality was predicted by caregiver background (e.g., education and formal training, ongoing professional development, sensitivity, and depression) and by program characteristics (e.g., membership in professional organization, supervision, and networking). The results from both meta-analyses identified relevant aspects for policy and practice to improve process quality in family child care.