Field testing a parent guide to quality day care centers

The present study describes the field testing procedures used to evaluate the reliability and predictive validity of the Parent Guide to Quality Day Care Centers. Twenty-six women were asked to use the items in the guide as a basis for observing in several local day care centers prejudged by local child care professionals to provide a given quality level of services. The results showed that a significant number of the items (80%) were reliably observed more frequently in centers prejudged to provide above-average services than in centers prejudged to provide below-average services.Reprints and an extended version of this paper can be obtained from Marilyn R. Bradbard, Department of Child and Family Development, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama 36830.