A window on school-age care.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships of the many characteristics that may contribute to the quality of school-age child care and to examine, from an ecological perspective, school-age child care as it relates to children's development. Interrelationships among structural and process measures of quality were identified. The relevance of this is twofold: the confirmation that many program characteristics contribute to the level of quality, and the reality that one combination of program characteristics may be better than another in creating a high quality program. The quality characteristics identified in this study (positive adult-child interactions, variety of activities available, compensation, and program size) should be considered when developing a school-age child care program. Furthermore, the study identified associations between school-age program quality and child outcomes, reinforcing the importance of quality programming for our children and youth during out-of-school time.