boston family child care study boston cpc family child care committee september 18, 2007
TRANSCRIPT
Boston Family Child Care Boston Family Child Care StudyStudy
Boston CPC Family Child Care CommitteeBoston CPC Family Child Care Committee
September 18, 2007September 18, 2007
Motivation for the Studies
• Present a comprehensive picture of the quality of Boston’s family child care and center-based programs to inform strategic planning
• To provide a baseline within Boston Public Schools for improvement efforts
• Hired the same research team – led by Nancy Marshall at the Wellesley Centers for Women
Overview of the Scope & Methodology
Scope of the StudyScope of the Study
Visited 52 Family Child Care Homes
Homes were randomly selected
Areas of Assessment:Areas of Assessment:
Space & Furnishings Basic Care Language-Reasoning Learning Activities Social Development Adult Needs
MethodologyMethodology
FDCRS Provider Interviews Family Survey
“Boston Quality Inventory: Family Child Care Homes”Nancy Marshall, Joanne RobertsWellesley Centers for Women
July 2007
Boston Public Schools K1 and K2 Programs, Needs Assessment:
- BPS Study: Visited 43 K1 and 85 K2 classrooms in 68 schools
Boston Quality Inventory - PreK and Infant/Toddler Classrooms:
- Community PreK: Visited 81 center-based PreK classrooms and XX infant and toddler classrooms
- Measures: ECERS-R, SELA, CLASS, Teacher Survey, Director/Principal Interview, Family Survey
Research has proven what closes the
achievement gap
RESEARCH• NIEER• UPK Study by
Frank Porter Graham
• Nancy Marshall• ECERS• National
Longitudinal Study
Higher quality (as demonstrated as a 5/good on the FDCRS/ECERS)
closes the achievement gap
Do we as a city want to bring all programs to a 5 /
“Good”?
Opportunities:• Close the
achievement gap• Strengthen
access for all families to high quality ECE
Challenges:• Costly• Requires new
resources and opportunities for professional development
• Need solutions for how to raise reimbursements/comp-ensation
Summary of Findings: Family Child Care Homes
52%
73%
21%27%
19%
31%
35%
27%
52%
48%
38%
13%
50%
13%
27% 25%
42%
87%
19%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Space andFurnishings
Basic Care Language-Reasoning
LearningActivities
SocialDevelopment
Adult Needs Total
Inadequate Adequate Good
“Closes the Achievement
Gap”
How can we ensure every child has access to a high quality early
care and education experience?
Recommendation: Bring all family child care homes up the NAFCC Quality Standards.Support NAFCC accreditation
– Only 16% of BQI-FCC were accredited or in process; most had no plans to become accredited. Efforts to raise the quality of FCC should include support for NAFCC accreditation
Support further education for family child care providers– Research supports the importance of provider
qualifications– In the BQI, 17% of providers had a BA degree or more– In the BQI, providers with a CDA, some college, or a
college degree were more likely to meet the Good benchmarks on the total FDCRS (23% compared to 9%).
Recommendation: Provide additional professional development.
• Physical Activity
• Infant and Toddler Care
• Developmental Learning Activities
• Television Use
• Hand-washing and health
Recommendation: Improve the safety of playgrounds
• 1 in 5 FCC homes did not have a safe outdoor or indoor space for active physical play such as tricycle riding, ball playing or climbing.
• Many programs rely on public playgrounds, which often lacked adequate fencing or well-maintained equipment, or required young children to walk along busy streets
Recommendation: Provide all family child care homes with the furnishings and materials needed to provide a high quality early childhood care and education
• FCC Homes need:
– Furniture
– Physical play materials
– Eye-hand materials
– Dramatic play materials
Additional Recommendation: Include family child care homes in plans for early care and education for Boston’s children.
•Close relationship between the provider and child
•High Levels of Family Involvement
•Staff Diversity Reflective of Children Served
•Full-day, Full-year Programming to Meet the Needs of Working Families
•Access to comprehensive services
Children are in all settings
• We need common efforts for all programs to reach all children
• The question is not what to do but how to do it?
These are the common ways we can improve quality across all
ECE settings in Boston:
• Support accreditation• Support further education• Provide materials and supplies• Improve the safety of public
playgrounds• Provide additional professional
development opportunities
For more information and full copies of the reports:For more information and full copies of the reports:
Corey ZimmermanCorey Zimmerman617-695-0700 x 229617-695-0700 x 229
[email protected]@associatedece.orgwww.bostonequip.orgwww.bostonequip.org