Child-care centers in North Carolina improved and parents sought out higher-rated centers, according to a new paper on the state’s quality-rating and improvement system.
The working paper, released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, showed that North Carolina centers on the cusp of earning a higher rating tended to make the changes necessary to get that designation. Lower-rated programs saw enrollment drops.
The effects were concentrated in the parts of the state where many early-childhood programs compete for students. In other areas with fewer providers, receiving a low rating didn’t have much of an effect on a child-care program.
