Influence of local ECEC policy on the quality of ECEC centers in the Netherlands

This study investigated the influence of local governance at the level of municipalities on the process quality of ECEC centers for 2-to 4-year-olds in the context of a privatized, marketized and decentralized ECEC system with both for-profit and not-for-profit providers. We studied the relation between local policy and ECEC-quality in a sample of 157 ECEC centers nested in 36 municipalities, with a total of 299 observations of process quality at two measurement waves. The results showed significant differences between municipalities in the observed emotional and behavioral support and engaged... Mehr ...