Which Counts More for Excellence in Childcare Staff — Years in Service, Education Level or ECE Coursework?

A sample of 81 caregivers in 24 urban centers was observed in interactions with preschool children three‐to‐five years old, in domains of positive and negative socioemotional inputs, language facilitation, concept promotion, and caregiving and cleaning up (of children and of environment).The teachers independently had provided responses to questions about their: number of years of formal schooling, years in childcare, years at the same center, own parenting status, and how many ECE/CD (early childhood education and child development) courses and workshops they had ever taken. Hierarchical stepwise regressions and ANOVAs showed the importance of ECE/CD training. When all positive teacher interactions tallied in the classroom were combined, ECE/CD training accounted for over 62 percent of the variance in teacher inputs. Thus, when interviewing candidates for childcare positions, directors need to verify a candidate's prior ECE/CD training and they need provide supports for staff to obtain ongoing ECE/CD coursework to ensure high quality childcare.