Examining Program Quality Disparities Between Urban and Rural Kindergartens in China: Evidence From Zhejiang

In recent years, the Chinese government has initiated a national plan to universalize quality kindergartens for all age-eligible Chinese children. Kindergarten is the main form of early childhood education and care (ECEC) service across China. However, the government faces two thorny issues on the journey toward realizing educational equity for some of the nation’s most vulnerable children. The first issue is the critical shortage of kindergarten programs. The second issue is a widening gap in quality between rural and urban kindergarten programs. Therefore, this study examines the quality of 91 kindergarten programs across different locations and funding sources in Zhejiang Province based on a stratified random selection method to gain insights into the aspects and magnitude of quality disparities in programs serving children from the richest and most powerful urban residents to the most disadvantaged village families. Program quality was rated utilizing eight subscales of the Chinese Early Childhood Programs Rating Scale, modified from Harms, Clifford, and Cryer’s (2005) Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale. Finally, recommendations for future studies and policy formation are provided to enhance and perhaps hasten the process of universalizing quality kindergartens in the increasingly market-based context of modern China.