Are Neighborhood Factors Associated with the Quality of Early Childhood Education in North Carolina?

Evidence suggests that participation in high quality early childhood education supports the school readiness of young children. Therefore, it is important to understand whether children from different geographic regions, such as urban and rural neighborhoods, have comparable access to high quality programs. This study explores whether neighborhood (that is, census tract) characteristics are associated with the quality rating scores of early childhood education sites in North Carolina, after site-level characteristics are controlled for. The results suggest that neighborhood characteristics are only weakly associated with the quality rating scores. Results also indicate that the number of early childhood education sites within a neighborhood or adjacent neighborhood does not predict a site's quality rating scores, nor does the distance between a site and the nearest postsecondary institution with degree or certificate programs in early childhood education. [For the study snapshot, see ED608342. For the appendix, see ED608343.]