Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to examine whether parents assigned higher quality ratings to school-age care centres than trained observers. Parents' and trained observers' measured the global quality of 20 school-age care centres using the School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale (SACERS; Harms, Jacobs, & White, 1996). Comparisons revealed that in the lower quality centres, parents were overestimating quality, however, there was little indication as to which specific areas parents seemed less knowledgeable about. Parents' satisfaction levels were measured showing that overall, parents were highly satisfied with the care their children were receiving. Correlations between parents' satisfaction ratings and trained observers' measures of quality indicated that parents' satisfaction levels were independent of centre quality, that is, whether the quality was low or high, parents' levels of satisfaction were high. When parents were looking for school-age care, location emerged as the most significantly important variable for parents to consider. When parents' search patterns were examined, no significant differences emerged between the school-based and non-school-based groups, however, there was some indication that parents in the school-based group were less likely to visit their chosen program before enrolling their child. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are also discussed.