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The relationship between the child–staff ratio and process quality in early childhood education institutions: A meta–analysis.

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Title: The relationship between the child–staff ratio and process quality in early childhood education institutions: A meta–analysis.
Authors: Hausladen, Kristina1 (AUTHOR) kristina.hausladen@uni-bamberg.de, Wolf, Katrin2 (AUTHOR), Burghardt, Lars3 (AUTHOR), Anders, Yvonne4 (AUTHOR)
Source: Early Childhood Research Quarterly. 2026 3rd Quarter, Vol. 76, p556-567. 12p.
Subject Terms: *Early childhood education, *Educational quality, *Research methodology, *Early childhood teachers, *Classrooms, *Policy sciences
Abstract: • There was a small negative correlation between higher child-staff ratios and lower process quality. • Results on the association of child-staff ratios and process quality were heterogeneous. • There was a small to medium negative correlation in mixed-age classrooms and for children ages 0-2. • There was a small negative correlation for global process quality and a very small negative correlation for interaction quality. • There was a small negative correlation for the child-staff ratio, including only ECEC professionals. This meta–analysis studies the association between the child–staff ratio and the process quality (ERS, CLASS, CIS, ORCE, and EQOS) in center–based Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions and identifies potential moderating factors. It synthesizes evidence from 49 publications from 14 countries with data from 18.049 ECEC classrooms. Results of the three–level random effects model provided a small significant negative correlation (Z = – 0.12, p<.001), indicating a negative relationship between an increase in the number of children per staff member on the process quality across publications. Additional moderator analyses showed that the correlation was higher for mixed–age classrooms and younger children and more relevant for global process quality indicators. Worse child-staff ratios correlated to a lesser degree with the interaction quality. Effect sizes also varied according to the type of staff included in the calculation of the child–staff ratio. These results underline that research evidence is rather heterogeneous and should not be interpreted without context. The authors discuss important implications for policy and pedagogical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Early Childhood Research Quarterly is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 194296361
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PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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  Data: The relationship between the child–staff ratio and process quality in early childhood education institutions: A meta–analysis.
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  Data: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Hausladen%2C+Kristina%22&quot;&gt;Hausladen, Kristina&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;1&lt;/relatesTo&gt; (AUTHOR)&lt;i&gt; kristina.hausladen@uni-bamberg.de&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Wolf%2C+Katrin%22&quot;&gt;Wolf, Katrin&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;2&lt;/relatesTo&gt; (AUTHOR)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Burghardt%2C+Lars%22&quot;&gt;Burghardt, Lars&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;3&lt;/relatesTo&gt; (AUTHOR)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Anders%2C+Yvonne%22&quot;&gt;Anders, Yvonne&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;4&lt;/relatesTo&gt; (AUTHOR)
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  Data: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;JN&quot; term=&quot;%22Early+Childhood+Research+Quarterly%22&quot;&gt;Early Childhood Research Quarterly&lt;/searchLink&gt;. 2026 3rd Quarter, Vol. 76, p556-567. 12p.
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  Data: *&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Early+childhood+education%22&quot;&gt;Early childhood education&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Educational+quality%22&quot;&gt;Educational quality&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Research+methodology%22&quot;&gt;Research methodology&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Early+childhood+teachers%22&quot;&gt;Early childhood teachers&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Classrooms%22&quot;&gt;Classrooms&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;br /&gt;*&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;DE&quot; term=&quot;%22Policy+sciences%22&quot;&gt;Policy sciences&lt;/searchLink&gt;
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: • There was a small negative correlation between higher child-staff ratios and lower process quality. • Results on the association of child-staff ratios and process quality were heterogeneous. • There was a small to medium negative correlation in mixed-age classrooms and for children ages 0-2. • There was a small negative correlation for global process quality and a very small negative correlation for interaction quality. • There was a small negative correlation for the child-staff ratio, including only ECEC professionals. This meta–analysis studies the association between the child–staff ratio and the process quality (ERS, CLASS, CIS, ORCE, and EQOS) in center–based Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions and identifies potential moderating factors. It synthesizes evidence from 49 publications from 14 countries with data from 18.049 ECEC classrooms. Results of the three–level random effects model provided a small significant negative correlation (Z = – 0.12, p&lt;.001), indicating a negative relationship between an increase in the number of children per staff member on the process quality across publications. Additional moderator analyses showed that the correlation was higher for mixed–age classrooms and younger children and more relevant for global process quality indicators. Worse child-staff ratios correlated to a lesser degree with the interaction quality. Effect sizes also varied according to the type of staff included in the calculation of the child–staff ratio. These results underline that research evidence is rather heterogeneous and should not be interpreted without context. The authors discuss important implications for policy and pedagogical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
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  Data: &lt;i&gt;Copyright of Early Childhood Research Quarterly is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder&#39;s express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.&lt;/i&gt; (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=194296361
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2026.05.002
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 12
        StartPage: 556
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Early childhood education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Educational quality
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Research methodology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Early childhood teachers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Classrooms
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Policy sciences
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: The relationship between the child–staff ratio and process quality in early childhood education institutions: A meta–analysis.
        Type: main
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      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Hausladen, Kristina
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            NameFull: Wolf, Katrin
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            NameFull: Burghardt, Lars
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            NameFull: Anders, Yvonne
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 07
              Text: 2026 3rd Quarter
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 08852006
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              Value: 76
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            – TitleFull: Early Childhood Research Quarterly
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