Structural Indicators of Quality ECE at the Basic Level
Dr Sarah Alexander
4 February 2018 (updated March 2024)
Since the late 1980s, there has been strong international agreement on the structural indicators of basic quality in early childhood education. These are long‑established, well‑researched foundations and are not points for political debate or minimisation. They are universal structural indicators. They represent the bare minimum conditions children need in early childhood group settings, and the minimum inputs every government must ensure.
Where this knowledge on the structural indicators comes from
From the late 1960s onwards, researchers around the world studied the regulatable features of early childhood settings – the variables governments can directly influence. They examined how these features affect children’s academic, social‑emotional, language, and long‑term life outcomes (such as school achievement, employment, income, and reduced involvement with the justice system).
By the late 1980s, the evidence was unequivocal: three controllable inputs consistently predicted positive outcomes for children:
- Adult–child ratios
- Group size
- Trained staff – ECE‑qualified teachers
Researchers also reached strong agreement on two further structural features:
- Stable staffing
- Adequate space for each child and a well‑organised physical environment with varied, accessible materials indoors and outdoors.
By 1990, a substantial peer‑reviewed evidence base existed. These five ingredients were universally recognised as the core structural conditions pre-requisite for any early childhood service.
At that time, I was among a small group of international researchers arguing that we needed to expand our understanding of quality to include social, cultural, and contextual dimensions. I proposed that quality is a multi‑dimensional, social‑cultural construct – but that we must also never lose sight of the structural indicators every ECE service needs. (See also this philosophical discussion on “what is quality?”)
The Five Structural Indicators
Every ECE service requires these five structural features as a baseline:
- Adult–child ratios
- Group size
- ECE‑qualified staff
- Stable staffing
- A well-organised, well-resourced physical environment that includes adequate space for each child
These 5 structural features can be regulated and are directly shaped by government policy and funding. Ratios, group size, and qualified ECE teachers form the “iron triangle of quality.” They are each essential and inseparable: changing one without adjusting the others does not reliably result in improvements for children. For example:
- A high adult-child ratio or small group size is far less effective if adults have not completed training – if they are unqualified ECE teachers.
- Good ratios are undermined if teachers are stretched thin or pulled away for non‑teaching tasks (e.g. cleaning).
- High ratios for infants and toddlers are especially critical, while older children do not require quite the same level of adult support – but both age-groups benefit strongly from small group size and ECE trained teachers.
Stable staffing is essential for children’s relationships, trust, and sense of security. Poor conditions lead to staff dissatisfaction, burnout, and staff churn which directly affects children. High turnover disrupts children’s adjustment to the ECE environment and undermines learning. Stability requires that staff have:
- good working conditions, including manageable ratios and group sizes
- fair pay and renumeration
- professional support
- involvement in planning and decision‑making
The physical environment is also crucial for positive child outcomes. Research consistently shows that children need ample space for play and physical movement, organised in ways that support safety, social development, exploration, and independence. High‑quality environments are well‑designed, with a wide variety of activities and accessible materials indoors and outdoors that genuinely support children’s wellbeing and learning. These features create spaces where small‑group play, exploration, and warm, reciprocal teacher–child interactions can flourish, and where effective teaching is far more likely to occur.
ADULT-CHILD RATIOS
Two problems with current ratios
1. Ratios have not been meaningfully reviewed since the Child Care Centre Regulations (1960), when education and care centres were governed by the Department of Social Welfare. At that time, the minimum ratios were:
- 1:5 for children under two
- 1:10 for children over two
These ratios have not changed.
Yet, early childhood education has changed dramatically. Today:
- Centres can be licensed for up to 150 children (or 75 under‑twos), compared with a maximum of 50 in 1960. Larger, more complex environments make reciprocal interactions and individualised care far harder to sustain.
- Children attend for longer hours, often 30+ hours per week, increasing emotional and learning support demands.
- Teachers are responsible for curriculum delivery, assessment, and documentation, adding significant workload beyond direct care.
The original ratios simply do not reflect the realities of modern ECE. For more detail on who counts as “in ratio” and how ratios are calculated, see Adult-to-Child Ratios: Regulations.
2. Teacher reports show many centres in practice operate at, or even below, the minimum legal ratios. A common problem is counting teachers as “in ratio” while they’re cleaning or doing tasks that prevent them from giving children their full attention. The rules are clear: staff in the office, doing administration, or on non‑contact time must not be counted in ratio. But because these practices are difficult for the regulator to detect, and rarely checked, centres may record themselves on paper as operating within the ratio requirements.
The result is predictable: teachers stretched thin, and children receiving less active supervision and lower‑quality teaching than even the minimum 1:10 (over‑twos) or 1:5 (under‑twos) ratios are meant to ensure.
Current Regulation and Practice
Centre-based ECE operating for more than 4 hours per day, the minimum legal ratios are:
- 1:5 for infants
- 1:6 for the first six children aged 2+; 2:20 for groups of more than six children aged 2+; Additional adults for every 10 extra children, up to 15 adults for 150 children
Home-based ECE ratios are a maximum of 4 children per adult.
Playcentre ratios are a maximum of 5 children per adult, with children under 2.5 years requiring a parent or familiar caregiver present.
What Needs to Happen
1. Active Monitoring and Enforcement
The regulator should conduct unannounced spot checks to ensure staff counted in ratio are actively supervising and teaching – not cleaning, doing administration, or completing other non‑teaching tasks. Without active enforcement, ratio rules cannot protect children’s safety or learning.
2. Ratios Must Reflect Quality, Not Just Headcounts
Simply adding more adults does not guarantee better outcomes. If staff are disengaged, burnt out, distracted by other tasks, or not ECE‑qualified, children do not benefit from improved ratios. Strengthening ratios must go hand‑in‑hand with stable staffing, including fair pay and good working conditions for qualified teachers.
2. Ratios should be Improved (Or, at the Very Least Every Adult in Ratio should be an ECE Qualified Teacher)
Centres should operate with better‑than‑minimum ratios, and because this doesn’t reliably happen on its own, the minimum ratio requirements must be raised.
If ratios are not strengthened, then at the very least it should be required that every adult counted in ratio must be a fully qualified ECE teacher. Qualified teachers have the supervision and other skills and knowledge to manage complex environments, respond to children’s emotional needs, and reduce risks to children’s learning, safety, and wellbeing.
When unqualified staff are counted in ratio, the burden shifts onto qualified teachers – who can find themselves needing to supervise more closely, provide additional support, and pick up workload that unqualified staff cannot safely or competently carry out. This undermines quality and stretches qualified teachers even thinner.
What to Look For
Home‑based ECE
- 1 adult to a maximum of 4 children
- Preferably no more than 3 children under 6, and no school‑aged children under 14
Centre‑based ECE
- Under 2 years: 1 adult to no more than 3 children
- Two‑year‑olds: 1 adult to no more than 6 children
- Over 3 years: 1 adult to no more than 8 children
Primary caregiving
While all teachers interact with all children, each child should ideally have one or two primary caregivers – the adults who take lead responsibility for their emotional, intellectual, and physical wellbeing. These key teachers maintain strong communication with parents and caregivers and need to be interested in and understand the child’s learning environment at home, ensuring continuity, security, individualised care and positive learning outcomes.
GROUP SIZE
Current Regulation and Practice
Group size is one of the most important structural indicators of quality. Yet in New Zealand’s ECE regulations and policy, it is almost entirely overlooked. While policymakers recognise the importance of small class sizes for school‑aged children, they have not applied the same understanding to infants and young children – despite the evidence being even stronger for this age group.
New Zealand does not regulate group size in early childhood centres. In 2011, the maximum licence size increased from 50 children (birth to five) to 150 children, or 75 under‑twos. Without any regulation of group size within these licence numbers, centres can operate far outside international best practice for children’s development and wellbeing.
There are two major problems with this:
1. Too many adults for children to form secure relationships
In large centres, the sheer number of adults and who change across the day and week, makes it impossible for children to form stable, secure relationships. A child may be cared for by ten or even twenty different adults in a week. This level of fragmentation undermines child attachment, emotional security, and learning.
2. Ratios apply to the whole licenced service, not the child’s actual group
Because group size is not regulated, adult–child ratio requirements apply only to the total number of children in the building and grounds, not to the group a child is actually in. This creates a loophole: it is technically possible to have one adult with ten or more babies in a room, as long as the centre can show it meets the overall ratio across the entire centre. This loophole directly undermines the intent of the ratio requirement and safety.
What to Look For
- A home‑based setting with no more than one infant (under 12 months) and no school‑aged children attending alongside the maximum four under‑six‑year‑olds.
- A centre licensed for a small number of children – ideally no more than 25, and certainly fewer than 50.
- Children 3+ years in groups no larger than 32.
- Children under 3 years in groups no larger than 15.
- Each group has its own allocated teachers, who stay consistently with that group throughout the day.
- Mixed‑age groups (under‑twos and over‑twos together) are often optimal. Younger children learn from older peers, and older children develop empathy and caregiving skills.
- Mixed‑age settings allow siblings to stay together, creating a more natural care environment for children and making daily routines easier for parents.
EARLY CHILDHOOD TRAINED STAFF
Every child in a teacher‑led service should be taught and cared for by adults who are trained specifically in early childhood education – with the skills, theoretical understanding, and expertise in child development and early childhood pedagogy that this age group requires, not general childcare or school‑age teaching. In Aotearoa, this includes deep knowledge of Te Whāriki, our early childhood curriculum, and how to implement it in daily practice. Staff training in early childhood education is one of the strongest predictors of quality linked to positive child outcomes.
Current Regulation and Practice
By law, teacher‑led centres must employ at least 50% ECE‑qualified teachers. However, the regulations do not require that qualified teachers be the ones supervising children. This makes the requirement an on‑paper rule only, not a guarantee of practice.
A centre may legally operate with:
- No ECE‑qualified teachers supervising children for parts of the day
- ECE‑qualified teachers assigned only to older age groups
- Qualified teachers spread thinly across multiple rooms
- A primary school trained teacher supervising staff instead of an ECE‑qualified teacher
In home‑based ECE, the adults (educators) caring for children daily are not required to hold an ECE teaching qualification. Only their supervisors (visiting teachers) must be qualified.
In parent‑led services (Playcentre), at least two adults must have completed approved training courses.
What to Look For
In teacher‑led services (centres and home‑based agencies)
- 100% ECE‑qualified teachers counted within the regulated adult–to-child ratio – this is the highest standard.
- Home‑based educators who are not family members should hold Level 4 NZQA ECE training, with full ECE teacher qualification being ideal.
- Adults who are training or who bring specialist skills can help qualified teachers and make the day run more smoothly, but they should not replace trained ECE teachers in the regulated ratio.
In parent‑led services
- Parents participating in the programme and learning alongside their children, contributing to a rich, responsive environment.
- If children are left without their parents, the adults responsible should be ECE‑qualified teachers, ensuring appropriate skills, understanding, and knowledge of early childhood development and pedagogy.
STABILITY OF STAFFING
Stable staffing is essential for children’s emotional wellbeing, mental health, and learning. Children need consistent adults to form secure attachments. When teachers frequently change, children may struggle to trust, settle, or build relationships.
A child who experiences a revolving door of teachers may avoid forming relationships altogether. High turnover also undermines teaching quality becuase it takes time for a teacher to truly know a child and tailor learning effectively.
Staff turnover is strongly influenced by:
- pay and pay parity with school teacher colleagues
- work conditions
- workplace culture, including bullying
- manageable ratios and group sizes
In services with low turnover, you will see:
- happy, enthusiastic teaching staff
- strong teamwork
- respect from management
- shared professional growth
What to Look For
- Low or no staff turnover over recent years.
- The same teachers caring for the same children each day.
- Minimal use of relief or casual staff to fill regular teaching roles.
- A service with a strong reputation that can easily fill vacancies with permanent staff.
SPACE AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
Current Regulation and Practice
Minimum space requirements in centres are:
- Indoor: 2.5 m² per child
- Outdoor: 5 m² per child
In licensed home‑based services:
- Indoor space must include at least one area of 10 m²
- There is no minimum outdoor space requirement
What to Look For
- Indoor space of at least 4 m² per child in centres and home‑based settings.
- Outdoor space of at least 7 m² per child in centres and home‑based settings.
Crowded environments increase the spread of illness and limit children’s movement, exploration, and social play. Ample space supports physical development, creativity, and wellbeing.
In a country like New Zealand, with a relatively small population, there is no justification for building centres to minimum space standards. Overcrowding often occurs when services enrol the maximum number of children allowed by their licence.
Over time, as furniture accumulates or areas are repurposed, the minimum space requirement may no longer be met. If this happens, the Ministry of Education should be notified so it can reassess the space and recalculate the licensed capacity.
In regard to other components that are important in the physical environment, we have these articles online:
Toddler died following a short distance fall, possibly from an adult-sized chair
Astroturf, Artificial Grass or Real Grass – What’s Best in ECE
Shade and Outdoor Planning for Sun Protection
Children’s Toilets and Bathroom
Related resources, guidance and further reading
How to make a complaint about an ECE service
Six signs of a quality early childhood education experience for children and families (aimed at parents, but a good reminder for service providers and staff and useful to use as a basis for discussion and review at staff meetings)
Formula for producing quality early childhood education that is remarkable for children (suitable for sharing with parents, student teachers, and policy-makers)
The Production of ‘Worthwhile’ Knowledge about Quality in Early Years Education (academic paper)
