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CHILD CARE QUALITY: STRUCTURAL AND PROCEDURAL QUALITY
NATIONAL HEAD START IMPACT STUDY
Measure: Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS)
Source
The National Head Start Impact Study is funded by the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Westat (prime contractor) conducts the study in collaboration with the Urban Institute, the American Institutes for Research, and Decision Information Resources (the subcontractors).
The Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS) was developed by Harms and Clifford (see the references and source documents sections).
In addition to the National Head Start Impact Study, this measure was used by the following EDCP evaluations and surveys: Early Head Start Evaluation and Tracking Pre-K.
Population Assessed
The Head Start Impact Study involves 4,750 (2,829 treatment and 1,921 control) 3- and 4-year-old newly entering Head Start-eligible preschool children across 84 nationally representative grantees and delegate agencies in communities where there are more eligible children and families than can be served by the program. Of the 4,750 children selected for the study, approximately 42 percent are Hispanic; 27 percent, Black; 28 percent, White; and 3 percent, other. Sixty-six percent of the children speak English as their primary language, 31 percent speak Spanish, and 3 percent speak a language other than Spanish or English. Gender is evenly split on the child sample.
The sample selection process began by including all fiscal year 1999–2000 Head Start grantees and delegate agencies in all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico. Programs that were very new, migrant, or tribal or that offered Early Head Start only were excluded. Geographic grantee clusters were developed using a minimum of eight grantees/delegate agencies per cluster, and the clusters were grouped into 25 strata using state pre-K and childcare policy, child race/ethnicity, and urban/rural location and region as stratifiers. One cluster was selected per strata with probability proportional to size (N = 261 grantees/delegate agencies). Next, the eligibility of grantees/delegate agencies in each cluster was determined. Those that were closed or merged and those that were saturated (have very few children in the community who are not served) were excluded. Remaining grantees/delegate agencies within the clusters were then stratified based on grantee/delegate agency characteristics including local contextual variables. Three grantees/delegate agencies were randomly selected from each cluster. These grantees/delegate agencies were contacted for participation in the study and the list of centers operating within these grantees/delegate agencies in 2002–2003 was compiled. Center eligibility was determined by excluding saturated centers and combining small centers with nearby centers to create center groups. Using the same stratification characteristics as used for the grantees/delegate agencies, approximately three centers were selected from each grantee/delegate agency based on proportional probabilities (i.e., larger centers have greater chance of selection). The final sample included 378 centers within 84 grantees/delegate agencies. Once the centers were selected, random assignment of children within these centers resulted in 2,829 children in the treatment group and 1,921 children in the comparison group for a total of 4,750 children.
Children selected were considered part of one of two cohorts. Cohort one included children who were 3-years-old in the 2002–2003 school year. Cohort one will be followed through 2005–2006, when they will have reached first grade. Cohort two consists of children who were 4-years-old during the 2002–2003 school year, and thus are moving into kindergarten in the 2003–2004 school year. Cohort two will be followed through their first grade year in 2004–2005.
Periodicity
This measure was administered in spring 2003.
Subscales/Components
The FDCRS is designed to assess family child care programs conducted in a provider’s home. The FDCRS has seven subscales each with it’s own set of items:
- Space and furnishings for care and learning (furnishings for routine care and learning, furnishings for relaxation and comfort, child-related display, indoor space arrangement, active physical play, space to be alone [infants/toddlers], space to be alone [2yrs and older]; alpha = 0.86)
- Basic care (arriving/leaving, meals/snacks, nap/rest, diapering/toileting, personal grooming, health, safety; alpha=0.90)
- Language and reasoning (informal use of language [infants/toddlers], informal use of language [2 yrs and older], helping children understand language [infants/toddlers], helping children understand language [2 yrs and older], helping children use language, helping children reason [using concepts]; alpha = 0.90)
- Learning activities (eye-hand coordination, art, music and movement, sand and water play, dramatic play, blocks, use of TV, schedule of daily activities, supervision of play indoors and outdoors; alpha = 0.83)
- Social development (tone, discipline, cultural awareness)
- Adult needs (relationship with parents, balancing personal and caregiving responsibilities, opportunities for professional growth; alpha = 0.70)
- Provisions for exceptional children (adaptations for basic care [physically handicapped], adaptations for activities [physically handicapped], adaptations for other special needs, communication [exceptional], language/reasoning [exceptional], learning and play activities [exceptional], social development [exceptional], caregiver preparation)
Procedures for Administration
The FDCRS is completed during an in-depth observation of the family day care. The FDCRS consists of 40 items, each of which is rated on a 7-point scale with four anchors (1 = inadequate; 3 = minimal; 5 = good; 7 = excellent). Overall quality ratings are determined by averaging scores across items and higher scores indicate higher family day care quality.
Psychometrics/Data Quality
Psychometric data for the study is not yet available.
Languages Available
The FDCRS is available in English and French.
Items Included
The FDCRS is copyrighted and was reprinted for the National Head Start Impact Study by permission of the scale developers. The subscales of the profile are not reproduced in full in this document, but samples of items from two subscales are given. The FDCRS can be purchased from the study developers by contacting Teachers College Press (see the references and source documents section for full contact information).
| Inadequate 1 |
2 | Minimal 3 |
4 | Good 5 |
6 | Excellent 7 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eye-hand coordination | No appropriate eye-hand materials are available for daily use by children (yes/no) | Some eye-hand materials accessible to children for independent use daily (yes/no) | Variety of eye-hand materials, in good repair, accessible daily (yes/no) | Materials rotated at least monthly to provide variety (yes/no) |
| Inadequate 1 |
2 | Minimal 3 |
4 | Good 5 |
6 | Excellent 7 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provisions for exceptional children | No attention to the special needs of the exceptional child (yes/no) | Minor changes made in the schedule, environment, and routines to get through the day (yes/no) | Caregiver provides activities, adapts schedule to meet the child's special needs (yes/no) | Caregiver follows programs developed by or with trained professional (yes/no) |
References and Source Documents
Harms, T., & Clifford, R. M. (1989). Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS). New York: Teachers College Press.
Harms, T., & Clifford, R. M. (1992). Family Day Care Rating Scale. N. Marcotte (translator), Un Univers à découvrir: Gille d’évaluation des services de garde en milieu fammilal. Québec, Canada: Les Publications Du Québec.
More information about the FDCRS is available on the Frank Porter Graham, University of North Carolina website at http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ecers/.
Ordering information for the FDCRS
Teachers College Press
1234 Amsterdam Ave.
New York, NY 10027
212-678-3929
1-800-575-6566
Research design documents for the National Head Start Impact Study are available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/index.html
Other available reports include the following:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2003, March). Building futures: Head Start Impact Study frequently asked questions. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001, March). Building futures: The Head Start Impact Study research design plan (updated version).Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001, January). Building futures: The Head Start Impact Study research design plan. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2002, June). National Head Start Impact research: Second report to Congress. Washington, DC: Author.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999, October). Evaluating Head Start: A recommended framework for studying the impact of the program. Washington, DC: Author.
Ongoing and updated information about the National Head Start Impact Study is available at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/hs/impact_study/index.html
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