Project Director: Wendy Wagner Robeson, Ed.D.

This is a four-year study following a random sample of 236 children and their families from 100 randomly selected centers that provide full-day, full-year care to infants in Massachusetts. The study is part of a larger research program addressing important issues of quality and cost in early care and education in Massachusetts.

The study employs a developmental-ecological framework to examine the links over time among poverty, other key family characteristics, quality and cost of center-based child care, family outcomes, and infant language and social development at 12, 24, and 36 months.