Quality By design

This document presents a literature review on ideas, research, policy, and practice concerning quality in early learning and child care (ELCC). The literature is drawn from three main sources: (1) Canadian research and policy documents pertinent to quality issues; (2) research literature that is primarily from the United States and tends to be focused at the individual program level; and (3) and the policy analysis literature, much of which comes from western Europe, and is concerned with quality at the system level. Eight elements of a quality ELCC system are identified: Ideas; Governance; Infrastructure; Planning and Policy Development; Financing; Human Resources; Physical Environment; and Data, Research, and Evaluation. These elements provide a framework for considering ELCC quality at a system level. They operate as a whole; there is no single element for ensuring quality.