Child Care Center Directors' Perception of Oklahoma's

Abstract

With the nation's focus to improve early care and education, many states have developed quality initiatives programs. Oklahoma's "Reaching for the Stars" program was implemented to offer affordable quality child care to young children and their families. Characteristics of quality associated with child care, for the purpose of this study, were determined by Teacher's Education/Training, Parent Involvement, Teacher's Salaries, Learning Environment and the Environmental Rating Scale. These are components in meeting criteria for the Stars program. A look at profit and non-profit centers were compared as they participate in the Stars program as well as directors' reaction to other state initiatives. Data were collected by an interview conducted with 277 child care center directors.

Department of Human Development and Family Science