Child Care Quality and Young Children’s Behavior

Most young children in the United States attend some form of child care or early childhood education before beginning formal schooling. These settings vary enormously, as do children’s experiences in them and outcomes associated with them. For this reason, research and policy communities within early childhood care and education have a strong interest in measuring and documenting child care quality and the outcomes associated with it. This entry focuses on the relationship between child care quality and young children’s behavior. First, it provides a brief overview of the definition and measurement of child care quality and of young children’s behavioral development. Then, it describes current knowledge about the links between child care quality and young children’s behavior.