Iram Siraj|Steven J. Howard|Denise Kingston|Cathrine Neilsen?Hewett|Edward Melhuish|Marc de Rosnay
Comparing regulatory and non-regulatory indices of early childhood education and care (ECEC) quality in the Australian early childhood sector
University of Wollongong|University of Wollongong|University of Sussex|University of Wollongong|University of Oxford|University of Wollongong
study examines associations australias regulatory ratings quality early childhood education care ececthe national quality standard nqsand two researchbased quality rating scales analytic sample consisted 257 ecec services across three australian states results indicated 1 modest positive associations nqs ratings scale scores 2 specificity nqs quality areas educational programs practice relationships children one research scalethe sustained shared thinking emotional wellbeing sstew scale 3 variability quality scales scores within nqs designation 4 mitigation associations timegap ratings exceeded 24 months findings suggest nqs research scales tap common core quality yet capture different aspects quality suggesting could used raise standards quality australian preschools research scales potentiate raising quality even higher levels nqs