ABSTRACT
The level of training of child care staff is widely regarded as an important factor, perhaps even the most important factor, in determining the quality of the day care environment (Ruopp, Travers, Glantz, & Coelen, 1979; Scarr, 1984). Parents seeking day care for their children are often advised to make the level of training of the staff a high priority (Scarr, 1984). Child care activists have long focused on training as a target for regulatory efforts, in the Federal Interagency Day Care Regulations (FIDCR) and in state regulations. There is an equally broad consensus that the level of training of the typical caregiver in the typical day care center is unconscionably low. Many states require no more than a perceptible pulse and some basic literacy skills for child care staff other than the director—i.e., for the people who have the most direct contact with the children. This chapter presents evidence concerning the importance of training as a dimension of day care quality and explores the reasons for the discrepancy between the perceived importance of training and the actual level of training of most caregivers.
