Review of Longitudinal Study on Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care

The importance of the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC) has been noted in different academic domains and the improvement of ECEC quality is a matter of the highest priority internationally. This paper reviews the empirical studies which examined longitudinally the impact of ECEC quality on child development. First, the focus is on the evaluation method. What indicators and scale are used to measure the quality of the structure and process? What are the advantages and limitations of each scale? Then, the findings of the longitudinal studies are reported. This paper addresses significant issues in determining and measuring quality for further discussion on quality research and also on a comprehensive ECEC policy