NNCC

Family Day Care Rating Scale

National Network for Child Care's Connections Newsletter

Thelma Harms
Director
Early Childhood Curriculum Development

Richard M. Clifford
Associate Director
Bush Institute for Child and Family Policy

Frank Porter Graham
Child Development Center
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Copyright Access Information

The Family Day Care Rating Scale (FDCRS) was developed especially for the assessment of infant/toddler group care. The FDCRS consists of 32 items which assess the quality of center-based child care for children up to 30 months of age. This 32 item scale covers six categories:

Space and Furnishings for Care and Learning,

Basic Care,

Language and Reasoning,

Learning Activities,

Social Development, and

Adult Needs.

Each item can be ranked from 1 to 7. A ranking of 1 describes care that does not even meet custodial care needs while a ranking of 7 describes excellent, high-quality personalized care. The definitions for quality used in the FDCRS are consistent with the Child Development Associate Family Day Care Credentialing Program. The scale is accompanied by a training video and video guide and training workbook.

The FDCRS can be used easily by a family child care provider for self-assessment, by supervisors, trainers, or researchers for evaluation and site development as well as by agency staff to build quality. If used as a self-study/self improvement guide, inadequate or minimal scores on the FDCRS scale indicate areas for emphasis in training and learning. The FDCRS can also be used as a pre and post test measure to assess the impact of training and continuing education.

Program Format and Costs:

Video Observations for the Family Day Care Rating Scale, 26 minute video tape (VHS only) and Video Observation Instructor's Guide for the Family Day Care Rating Scale, 10 page booklet. $59.00.

Video Guide and Training Workbook Observations for the Family Day Care Rating Scale, 16 page booklet. $4.00 each.

Family Day Care Rating Scale, 48 page booklet. $8.95 for scale and 1 scoring sheet; packets of 30 scoring sheets sold separately for $8.95.

Target Group:

Family child care providers and their supervisor or trainers, family child care researchers, and agency staff.

To Order, contact:

Teachers College Press
P. O. Box 20
Williston, VT 05495-0020
(800)575-6566

Information, contact:

Teachers College Press
1234 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10027
(212)678-3929
Website: http://www.teacherscollegepress.com/

DOCUMENT USE/COPYRIGHT
National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Part of CYFERNET, the National Extension Service
Children Youth and Family Educational Research Network. Permission is granted to reproduce
these materials in whole or in part for educational purposes only (not for profit beyond the cost of
reproduction) provided that the author and Network receive acknowledgment and this notice is
included:

FORMAT AVAILABLE:: Internet
DOCUMENT REVIEW:: Level 2 - North Carolina State University Extension
DOCUMENT SIZE:: 12K or 2 pages
ENTRY DATE:: January 1998