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The study analyzes a diverse sample of 672 classrooms from a statewide study, using a permutation test approach to assess associations across the full landscape of settings. Findings show group size and child-to-adult ratio are most consistently linked to children’s everyday experiences, while educator education, experience, and curriculum usage are largely unrelated. Implications for quality improvement initiatives are discussed.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/linking-features-of-structural-and-process-quality-across-the-landscape-of-early-education-and-care/590092/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/linking-features-of-structural-and-process-quality-across-the-landscape-of-early-education-and-care/590092.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Adam","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-05","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What are the key structural and process quality features studied?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Structural features include quantifiable and regulable characteristics of settings such as staff qualifications, group size, and classroom materials. Process quality reflects what happens day-to-day, including adult-child interactions and activities.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How was the study conducted to test links between structural and process quality?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The study uses a statewide sample of 672 classrooms and applies a permutation test approach to examine associations between structural features and collections of process features.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which structural features showed the strongest and most consistent relationships to children’s experiences?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Group size and child-to-adult ratio were most consistently linked to children’s experiences across the classrooms analyzed.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},590092,1792457393,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},1374404737137,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","AERA Open  \nJanuary-December 2021, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 1–21 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584211044519  \nArticle reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2021. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero)  \nLinking Features of Structural and Process Quality Across the Landscape of Early Education and Care  \nEmily C. Hanno  \nHarvard University  \nKathryn E. Gonzalez  \nHarvard University  \nMathematica Policy Research  \nStephanie M. Jones  \nNonie K. Lesaux  \nHarvard University  \nCommonly regulated structural quality features, like educator education levels and group size, are thought to be foundationalto the quality of children’s everyday experiences in early education and care settings. Yet little is known about how these features relate to the day-to-day interactions and activities that occur in these settings—or process quality features—across the landscape of early education and care. In this study, we examine the association between structural quality features and process quality features in a diverse sample of classrooms (n = 672) participating in a statewide study of early education and care. Using a permutation test approach, we found that group size and child-to-adult ratio were most consistently linked to children’s experiences but educator education, experience, and curriculum usage were largely unrelated. Implications of these findings for quality improvement initiatives are discussed.  \nKeywords: process quality, structural quality, early education and care  \nHigH-quality early education and care programs are seen as a key policy approach for preparing children for kindergarten and beyond. Yet few programs today meet the quality standards considered necessary for supporting young children’s development (Chaudry et al., 2017) . In response, the number of systemwide quality improvement initiatives—or Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS)—has nearly tripledin the United States between 2007 and 2017 (Build Initiative & Child Trends, 2019) . Despite a great deal of investment in such initiatives, we still have little evidence on the critical, regulable features of early education and care programs that foster high-quality, developmentally supportive experiences for young children in these settings. This article addresses this broad issue by applying a novel empirical approach in a large, statewide data set to examine whether certain structural quality features consistently predict the everyday interactions and activities in early education and care settings.  \nStructural quality features include the readily quantifiable and regulable features of settings, like staff qualifications, group size, and classroom materials, hypothesized to  \nunderlie process quality features (Phillipsen et al., 1997) . Process quality has been variously defined in the literature but generally reflects what actually happens on a day-to-day and moment-to-moment basis in settings, including activities and interactions between and among adults and children (Cryer et al., 1999; Howes et al., 2008; Pianta et al., 2005) . Process features are considered the most proximal determinants of children’s learning and have been proposed as a key mechanism linking structural features to children’s outcomes (Hamre, 2014; Markowitz et al., 2017) . Specifically, structural features are theorized to set the stage for process quality by creating the conditions in which high-quality, developmentally supportive processes can occur (NICHDEarly Child Care Research Network [ECCRN], 2002; Slot, 2018; Slot et al., 2015) . This hypothesis largely motivates the widespread regulation of structural features: In 2016, 100% of QRIS included stipulations for minimum educator qualifications, approximately 80% set curricular standards, and more than 50% considered group size and adult-to-child ratios as quality indicators (National Center for Early  \nCreat","cbCaivYAn0ZgZOIw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivYAn0ZgZOIw","pdf",770867,21,"English","# Linking Features of Structural and Process Quality Across the Landscape of Early Education and Care\n## Structural and process quality concepts\n## Study design and analysis approach\n## Results and implications","[{\"question\":\"What are the key structural and process quality features studied?\",\"answer\":\"Structural features include quantifiable and regulable characteristics of settings such as staff qualifications, group size, and classroom materials. Process quality reflects what happens day-to-day, including adult-child interactions and activities.\"},{\"question\":\"How was the study conducted to test links between structural and process quality?\",\"answer\":\"The study uses a statewide sample of 672 classrooms and applies a permutation test approach to examine associations between structural features and collections of process features.\"},{\"question\":\"Which structural features showed the strongest and most consistent relationships to children’s experiences?\",\"answer\":\"Group size and child-to-adult ratio were most consistently linked to children’s experiences across the classrooms analyzed.\"}]","Linking Features of Structural and Process Quality Across the Landscape of Early Education and Care | PDF",1792068776,53]