Although high-quality early care and education (ECE) is widely accepted as one of the most effective means for promoting early learning and development, many ECE programs have limited impact perhaps because of issues with how ECE quality is defined and measured. This study seeks to expand definitions of ECE quality by asking which preschool ECE quality dimensions relate to gains in which developmental outcomes and contrasting measurements using classroom-level ratings and child-level behavior counts. The sample includes 366 children in 63 randomly selected prekindergarten (pre-k) classrooms in six rural counties in a Southeast state. In the fall and spring, children were administered tests of academic achievement, language skills, and executive functions, and teachers rated their social skills. In the winter, the quality of teacher-child interactions was rated at the classroom level and the frequency that the child experienced complex teacher talk, domain-specific instructional activities, and whole group settings were counted at the child level. Two sets of analyses related gains in outcomes to the classroom-level ratings in both analyses and to behavior counts summarized at the classroom level and at the child level in separate analyses. Results indicated that (1) different ECE dimensions related to gains in different outcomes; (2) ECE quality measures based on observing the selected experiences of individual children provide as strong or stronger associations with child outcomes than do ratings of teacher-child interactions; and (3) it may be necessary to measure experiences of individual children if those experiences are likely to vary markedly among children in the same classroom.

尽管高质量的早期护理和教育（ECE）被广泛认为是促进早期学习和发展的最有效手段之一，但许多ECE计划的影响有限，这也许是因为ECE质量的定义和衡量方法存在问题。这项研究试图通过询问哪些学前儿童ECE质量维度与哪些成就相关，并使用课堂水平的评分和儿童水平的行为指标进行对比测量，来扩展ECE质量的定义。该样本包括东南部州六个农村县的63个随机选择的幼儿园（幼儿园前）教室中的366名儿童。在秋季和春季，对孩子们进行了学业成绩，语言能力和执行功能的测试，并且老师对他们的社交能力进行了评估。冬天时，在课堂上对师生互动的质量进行了评估，并在孩子层面上计算了孩子经历复杂的老师谈话，特定领域的教学活动以及整个小组设置的频率。两组分析将结果的获得与分析中的课堂级别评分以及在单独的分析中在课堂级别和儿童级别汇总的行为计数相关。结果表明：（1）不同的ECE维度与不同结果中的收益相关；（2）基于对儿童个别经验的观察，欧洲经委会的质量测评与对儿童互动的评价相比，对教师与儿童互动的评价具有更强的联系；