Early childhood professionals have established a set list of characteristics that denote a high quality early care and education environment for children under the age of kindergarten, but these may not be the same characteristics that parents consider in the decision-making process. The researcher used survey research to obtain quantitative research data from three hundred and ten participants that live in Central Kentucky and have a child under the age of kindergarten currently in childcare. The participants completed a survey that used a Likert scale from 1 to 4 to rate thirty-six characteristics of childcare programs and were asked to select the three most important characteristics when selecting childcare for their children. The findings of this study are valuable to childcare program directors to help them meet the needs of the families enrolled in their programs and assist them with marketing their childcare program appropriately.
","abstract_html":"<p>Early childhood professionals have established a set list of characteristics that denote a high quality early care and education environment for children under the age of kindergarten, but these may not be the same characteristics that parents consider in the decision-making process. The researcher used survey research to obtain quantitative research data from three hundred and ten participants that live in Central Kentucky and have a child under the age of kindergarten currently in childcare. The participants completed a survey that used a Likert scale from 1 to 4 to rate thirty-six characteristics of childcare programs and were asked to select the three most important characteristics when selecting childcare for their children. The findings of this study are valuable to childcare program directors to help them meet the needs of the families enrolled in their programs and assist them with marketing their childcare program appropriately. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Vanover, Sarah Taylor"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Doctoral's","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership and Policy Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:39Z","subjects":["Childcare","Child Development","Family","Other Educational Administration and Supervision"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2016 Sarah Taylor Vanover"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/442","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Vanover, Sarah Taylor"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership and Policy Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Childcare","Child Development","Family","Other Educational Administration and Supervision"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2016 Sarah Taylor Vanover"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/442"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Early childhood professionals have established a set list of characteristics that denote a high quality early care and education environment for children under the age of kindergarten, but these may not be the same characteristics that parents consider in the decision-making process. The researcher used survey research to obtain quantitative research data from three hundred and ten participants that live in Central Kentucky and have a child under the age of kindergarten currently in childcare. The participants completed a survey that used a Likert scale from 1 to 4 to rate thirty-six characteristics of childcare programs and were asked to select the three most important characteristics when selecting childcare for their children. The findings of this study are valuable to childcare program directors to help them meet the needs of the families enrolled in their programs and assist them with marketing their childcare program appropriately.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Family Preferences for Childcare in Central Kentucky"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Vanover, Sarah Taylor"],"dc:description.abstract":["Early childhood professionals have established a set list of characteristics that denote a high quality early care and education environment for children under the age of kindergarten, but these may not be the same characteristics that parents consider in the decision-making process. The researcher used survey research to obtain quantitative research data from three hundred and ten participants that live in Central Kentucky and have a child under the age of kindergarten currently in childcare. The participants completed a survey that used a Likert scale from 1 to 4 to rate thirty-six characteristics of childcare programs and were asked to select the three most important characteristics when selecting childcare for their children. The findings of this study are valuable to childcare program directors to help them meet the needs of the families enrolled in their programs and assist them with marketing their childcare program appropriately.
"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/442"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2016 Sarah Taylor Vanover"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Childcare","Child Development","Family","Other Educational Administration and Supervision"],"dc:title":["Family Preferences for Childcare in Central Kentucky"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership and Policy Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:39Z"}