Educational Alternatives, Volume 13, 2015

Abstract: Demand for childcare has been growing rapidly over the last few decades, leading to a rapid increase in the proportion of children who attend centre-based childcare. In turn, this has led to current questions about how we can ensure that the centres continue to offer high-quality care while expanding rapidly. This paper describes how quality is defined in the literature and different methods that have been used to measure quality, as well as discussing the advantages and limitations of the different methods. Finally, the paper discusses which method is the best way to assess quality in childcare in order to understand its influence on children.