Child Care Choices: A Longitudinal Study of Children, Families and Child Care in Partnership with Policy Makers

Child Care Choices isan example ofnew early childhood research hased on a relationship betueen policy makers and researchers. It is also an example oflarge-scale longitudinal team-hased research into early childhood in Australia. The ongoing study addresses the professionalproblem for practitioners andpolicy makers ofthe increasing use ofmultiple care settings and changes to care arrangements in the early yems and their possible impacts on child development. The project will follow an initial sample of 693 families with a child aged from birth to three years over a three-year period. An ecological framework is used to include the influences on child development ofcharacteristics ofthe children and their families, their city or country location, as well as their childcare history and current ca.-e arrangements. Development is measured in ter-ms ofchildren s health, motor detelopment, social and emotional development, language and communication as well as emerging literacy and mmleracy The article discusses the unique features ofthe project in Australian early childhood research, its history, preliminaryfindings, and the potential of this kind of large-scale, longitudinal team-based r-esearch conducted in partnership with policy makers to contribute to policy as well as to theoretical debate.