ASSESSMENT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN ENROLLED IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE DAYCREES: IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?

Abstract

Day care centers are important places for observing children in open environment. However, there are many economic realities, with different possibilities for the educational process and the stimulation of development. The aim of this study was to evaluate the development of children without a previous diagnosis of deviations, in public and private day care centers. 65 children from two public and one private daycare centers were evaluated using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) and the Denver II Test (TDII) in three moments. Children were classified as at risk when they presented at least two altered assessments, in at least one of the scales. The Kappa test (agreement between AIMS and TDII), Fisher (differences between the results of the instruments) and Student's t-test or Mann WhitneyTest (differences between the variables of the children's profile) were performed, considering p<0.05 as a significant value. 32% of the total sample presented risk development (n=21). 24 (62%) children from the private day care center and 20 (77%) from the public day care center were classified as normal. There was no difference between the day care centers in any of the tests and the agreement between the instruments was weak. Thus, there was no difference in the public and private realities, but the number of children with alterations was important. It is suggested that, regardless of the type of day care center, there is careful monitoring of development.