보육시설 평가인증 시범사업 평가 및 사후관리

Abstract

1. Purpose of the Study

As questions about the quality of childcare services were raised, an accreditation system for childcare facilities was introduced in order to better establish a management system for childcare services. Following the childcare accreditation indexes from 2003, a pilot project was implemented in 2005. However, a comprehensive evaluation of the management systems of accreditation, accreditation indexes, and guidelines applied at that time has not yet been undertaken,. In addition, a follow-up evaluation of accredited facilities in order to ensure sufficient quality has not yet been established. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the processes and of the pilot project for accreditation, examining the validity of the accreditation indexes, and monitoring the effects of childcare accreditation in order to develop a follow-up monitoring system for accredited facilities.

2. Contents and Method of the Study

The main contents of the study are as follows:

(1) To evaluate the processes and results of the 2005 pilot project for accreditation

(2) To arrange a formative evaluation

(3) To modify content based on these evaluations

(4) To analyze the quality and credibility of the survey questions in order to assess the validity of the accreditation indexes

(5) To examine the quality of accredited facilities and the changes they undergo after accreditation

(6) To understand the effects of accreditation and the opinions of field workers within the accreditation system and its indexes, using post-survey questions regarding accredited facilities

(7) To propose a follow-up monitoring system for accredited facilities (a tentative proposal) in order to maintain and improve their quality levels.

The subjects of this study consisted of 614 childcare facilities among 627 accredited ones. The remaining 13 facilities, whose accreditations were nullified, were excluded.

3. Results of the Study

The pilot accreditation project was implemented over three stages from February to December, 2005, focusing on four-stage management systems: application for accreditation, self-assessment, on-site visit, and accreditation decision.

The total number of childcare facilities that applied for self-assessment was 1,089; the number of drop-out facilities was 418; and the number of accredited facilities was 627 out of the 671 facilities remaining.

To ensure the validity of the accreditation indexes, 80 questions concerning the indexes for facilities whose capacities held at least 21 children, and 60 questions concerning the indexes for facilities whose capacities were under 21 children, were furnished. These questions were shown to be generally satisfactory in terms of question validity and credibility.

The scores for self-assessment and on-site visit of the accredited facilities in 2005 were higher than the average.

All of the accredited facilities were responsible for self-publishing annual reports on the first anniversary of their accreditation. When the scores of the accreditation in 2005 and the scores of the annual reports in 2006 of each accredited facility was compared, it was shown that the scores in 2006 were higher than the scores in 2005.

As a result of the post-survey in 2006, 86.8% of the participating directors reported that the quality of their services after achieving accreditation had improved in all the aspects and had been steadily maintained.

It was proposed that a follow-up monitoring system (a tentative proposal) for accreditation should be developed and employed for deferred or denied facilities, as well as for accredited facilities.