The program of the Syracuse University Children's Center for the design and maintenance of an optimal living and learning environment for infants from 6 to 36 months from low-income families is presented. A checklist, Assessing the Behaviors of Caregivers (ABC) was designed to gather evidence for the extent to which teaching staff actually provided the inputs which had been articulated as specific goals of the "Infant-Fold." The checklist contains 40 items divided into seven categories. Ss were five caregivers working in the "Infant-Fold" during observation. The ABC scale is administered by an observer who tallies the behaviors of the Ss during several two-minute rating periods. As a formative evaluation technique, ABC is recommended for widespread use to monitor the quality of day care and educational programs for infants and to improve the quality of that input on a continuing basis. (CK)