Multiple Purposes for Measuring Quality in Early Childhood Settings

Multiple Purposes for Measuring Quality in Early Childhood Settings: Implications for Collecting and Communicating Information on Quality

As states and communities invest in initiatives to improve the quality of early care and education, the measurement of quality is becoming more widespread and the importance of measuring quality well is gaining increasing attention (Zaslow, Tout, & Martinez-Beck, 2009). Within the broad context of interest in improving quality, this Issue Brief seeks to differentiate among a number of specific purposes for measuring quality in early childhood settings, and to identify the implications of these differing purposes for the careful and appropriate measurement of quality. In this brief, we will:

• Review previous research that highlights the importance of identifying the purposes of measurement,
• Distinguish among different purposes for conducting assessments of quality in early childhood settings,
• Discuss the need for precaution when assessments seek to address multiple purposes at once, and
• Raise implications for developing future measures.

For further information, visit http://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2009_5_20_RB_MultPurposes.pdf.