Testing the structure-process-outcome model across different early care and education policy contexts

Regulations and policy in early care and education (ECE) is based largely on the idea that structural elements of ECE, such as child-adult ratio, predict teacher-child interactions that then predict child developmental outcomes. This structure-process-outcome model was initially proposed when many states had minimal ECE quality standards. Our study tested the structure-process-outcome model using four large early childhood data sets that were collected over a 30-year period. Data from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 606, 24% non-White), the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study's Birth Cohort (n = 1,420, 56% non-White), the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2014 Cohort (n = 2,105, 76% non-White), and the University of North Carolina's Early Learning Network (n = 455, 75% non-White) were analyzed. Child-adult ratios and teachers' highest level of education were associated with measures of observed classroom quality during the historical period when there were minimal regulations and classroom ratios were higher and teacher education was lower; relations were not found when regulations required higher levels of structural quality. Notably, we also did not find significant relations between process quality measured by commonly used quality assessments and children's academic and behavioral outcomes in the preschool year. These findings suggest that as policies have improved structural quality, there is a need to refine the structure-process-outcome theoretical model. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).