Costs and characteristics of high-quality early childhood education programs

This paper reports the results of a survey on the costs and characteristics of full-day full-year early childhood education programs serving four-year-olds that are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). These centers had average costs excluding in-kind donations of $4,200 per child in 1988 and $4,800 per child including donations. Annualized salaries of child care teachers in these centers ranged from about 55 to 74 percent of public school teachers with similar years of experience and education. This study also confirms that turnover of child care teaching staff is high, about 26 percent for teachers and 54 percent for teacher aides.This article represents the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. General Accounting Office.