Background Supplement SAC Needs Assessment: Survey Results Board of Early Education and Care January 10, 2012.

Background Supplement

SAC Needs Assessment: Survey Results

Board of Early Education and Care

January 10, 2012

o Overview of Research Framework

o Summary of Family Survey Results & Observations

o Summary of Educator Survey Results & Observations

o Conclusions and Next Steps in Analysis

Overview of Discussion

Page 1 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Overview of Policy ContextProgram Quality & School Readiness


o Learning is influenced by myriad factors that extend beyond school – e.g., nutrition, health care, safe learning spaces, enrichment. Children with least support in their home and community often experience most severe challenges in school

o The National Center for Children in Poverty estimates that 29% of all Massachusetts children birth to 5 are low-income and that 52% of young children face at least one risk factor that could lead to toxic stress, with 17% facing three or more risk factors

o These children are most at-risk of encountering developmental delays and school readiness gaps and most likely to benefit from high-quality early learning programs

o Massachusetts has undertaken a number of strategic initiatives designed to increase access to high-quality early learning programs, which have been shown to significantly improve school and life outcomes among children, especially among high-need children. The eeds assessment can inform implementation of initiatives

Overview of Research Framework Survey Data to Inform Needs Assessment


o EEC consulted with the Wellesley College Center for Women (WCCW) to develop recommendations for the overall framework for the EEC needs assessment, including the development of logic models, sampling plan recommendations, and the content for surveys of families and educators. Surveys were just one component of a larger framework for the needs assessment

o The WCCW’s final report recommended two representative sample surveys to

inform the needs assessment – one for families and one for educators. Also recommended use of convenience surveys to supplement data from samples

o Using questions compiled from surveys implemented across the country, the WCCW research team recommended a set of survey questions for each survey

o The questions for each survey were organized around one of five groups of research questions developed by WCCW

Overview of Research Framework Key Research Questions


o Demand for Services - What are the needs for families to support child development?

o Access to Services & Supports- Which children/families have access to programs they need, including high-quality early education and care programs, health care, community resources/supports?

o Child Development - Are children, birth to age 8, on track to succeed when they enter school and beyond?

o Educator Preparation & Stability- How prepared is the workforce to provide effective education and care for all? How stable is the workforce? What supports are available to educators to become more reflective practitioners?

o Educator Views on Quality - How does the workforce define and understand quality?

Family Survey - OverviewSurvey Design and Administration


o Representative Sample Design – Relied on outreach sample of 5,300 families, with an oversample of an additional 1,500 low-income families. Sample drawn from address-based list, with phone numbers matched from commercial sources and EEC data. Sample allocated by county to ensure geographic representation. Also posted a public version of survey on EEC homepage that was open to all families

o Outreach Campaign – Fliers mailed to all families selected for participation in English, Spanish and Portuguese with link to on-line survey and phone number for more information. Survey team made up to five attempts to contact families by phone and mail. Incentives offered for participation. CFCE agencies and CCR&R Network conducted outreach to promote public version of survey

o Data Collection – Data collected on-line and by phone from October 17 through November 30. Received 301 responses from the representative sample survey and 2,028 responses from the public version of the survey

Family Survey – Profile of FamiliesDistribution of Responses by County


Family Survey – Profile of FamiliesDistribution of Responses by Income & Education


Family Survey – Profile of FamiliesDistribution of Responses by Race/Ethnicity


o A large majority of families report needing some type of care for their children, including 73% of families participating in the representative sample and 81% of families that completed the public version of the survey.

o Out of the families in the representative sample, 36% identified a need for programs that offer care with standard week-day hours, 21% need programs that offer care before or after school, 9% need a summer-only program, 4% need a program that offers evening hours.

o With 38% of families reporting having a child with a special need or health condition, families have needs for programs that can accommodate the needs of their child

o With 13% of families indicating that they speak a language other than English at home, families may also have needs for programs that can support the learning of children who are English language learners

Family Survey – Demand for ServicesEarly Education & School-Age Programs


o Families were mostly likely to cite the following as being “very important” to program quality: child safety issues, teaching children to get along with other children, communications with families, an educator’s positive, warm and nurturing approach, the cleanliness of the program, and the level of attention an educator provides to children. (See Attachment “Family Views on Quality” for Results)

o Families were least likely to cite the following as being “very important” to program quality: the presence of children of different ages, helping families connect to other services, teaching children things about their community, having opportunities for children to participate in community activities, using a curriculum that follows state learning standards and providing children with structured activities. (See Attachment “Family Views on Quality” for Results)

Family Survey – Demand for ServicesFamily Views on Program Quality


o Children spend a significant amount of time in their primary care arrangement each week. Out of the families surveyed, 64% report use of more than 20 hours per week, with 38% reporting use of more than 30 hours per week

o Of the families in the sample, 68% report that they have used their current primary care arrangement for one year or longer and 32% report that they have used their arrangement less than one year.

Family Survey – Access to Services & SupportsPrimary Early Education & Care Arrangements


o Of the families that identified a primary care arrangement, 13% of them also report having a secondary or back-up care arrangement.

o Unlike their primary care arrangement, families are more likely to use secondary care arrangements for fewer hours per week.

o Of families with a secondary or back-up care arrangement, 88% of families report using that arrangement for 20 hours or less each week, with 69% using that arrangement for only 10 hours or less each week.

Family Survey – Access to Services & Supports Secondary Early Education & Care Arrangements


o While 70% of families indicated that they did not have any problems when searching for their primary care option, 30% reported at least one of type of problem

o Of the families that reported having a problem when searching for primary care options, 19% indicated that they found that the program was “too expensive,” 7% found that the “the hours didn’t meet my needs” and 6% were “unsure of the quality of the program”

o Families that participated in the pubic version of the survey were more likely to identify problems when searching for care, with 47% reporting at least one problem.

Family Survey – Access to Services & SupportsChallenges in Searching for Programs


o Of the families in the survey that have a current primary care arrangement, 14 % of report some type of assistance from one or more sources

o Out of all the families responding, 9% receive some form of public subsidy (e.g., government voucher, Head Start, subsidy through public school), 5% receive help from a relative or friend, 2% receive some type of tax credit and 2% receive assistance directly from a program.

Family Survey – Access to Services & SupportsAccess to Financial Assistance


o Of the 12% of all families report that they “strongly disagree,” “disagree” or “neither,” the families are more likely to report quality as a problem when searching for an early education program. They are less likely to speak English at home, less likely to have a college degree and have lower incomes

Family Survey – Access to Services & SupportsEducational Options for School-Age Children


o Families rely strongly on informal referrals to find out about early education and school-age care arrangements.

o In 39% of the families surveyed, the family heard about their primary care arrangement through neighbors, friends, relatives or community groups.

o Families reported only modest use of other referral services. For example, only 8% reported using a child care referral service and only 3% reported using the referral of a healthcare provider, welfare/social service caseworker.

Family Survey – Access to Services & SupportsAccess to Information When Selecting a Program


Family Survey – Access to Services & SupportsActivities Shared With Children Within Past Month


o When asked about public services, families “strongly agree” or “agree” that they are satisfied with garbage collection (80%), police protection (73%), public schools (66%) and public transportation (37%)

o While 66% of families either “strongly agree” or “agree” that they are satisfied with the public schools in their community, 13% “strongly disagree” or “disagree”, and 20% selected “neither agree or disagree”

o When asked about their neighborhood, families “strongly agree” or “agree” that that they watch out for each other’s children (62%) and that people in the neighborhood help each other out (64%)

o When asked to think about how long most people have lived in their neighborhood, 45% report longer than 10 years, 28% report 5 to 10 years, 15% report less than 5 years and 12% did not know

Family Survey – Access to Services & SupportsSatisfaction with Services in the Neighborhood


o As illustrated above, families report positively about solving family problems or disagreements but, 16% of “agree” or “strongly agree” that they would have no idea where to turn if their family needed food, housing, or had trouble making ends meet. In general, these families are less likely to speak English at home, less likely to have a college degree and likely to have lower household incomes.

Family Survey – Access to Services & SupportsFamily Strengths in Solving Problems


o When asked about special needs or health conditions related to their child, 62% report that their child has not been diagnosed with any of the listed conditions. Of the 38% of families that did report a child with special needs or health conditions, the most common conditions were:

15% Learning Disability or Developmental Delay 15% Asthma 9% Food Allergies 8% ADD or ADHD 3% Autism or Pervasive Developmental Disorder 3% Emotional Disturbance 3% Other Chronic Condition 2% Orthopedic Impairment

o For families that did report children with diagnosed special needs or health

conditions, 81% received the diagnosis from a doctor, clinic or other health care provider, 19% from their local school district and 13% from state or local health or social service agency. Some may have received diagnoses from multiple sources.

Family Survey – Child DevelopmentChildren With Special Needs or Health Conditions


o Of the families responding, 99% of families “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that their child has regular health care checkups. Approximately 92% indicated that their child had visited a doctor, nurse or other health care provider for a regular checkup within the past 12 months and 82% reported a dental visit within past 12 months.

o Families also indicated that their child had visited a doctor, nurse or other health care provider for other reasons, with 50% due to not feeling well, 14% due to an injury or accident and 7% due to other reasons. Only 5% of families indicated that their child had not visited a doctor, nurse or other health care provider for any reason within the last 12 months

o When asked about the source of their child’s routine medical care, 91% of families report that they rely on a private doctor, private health clinic or HMO for care. The remaining 9% of families report using public health department, community health clinics, private out-patient clinics or other sources for routine medical care

Family Survey – Child DevelopmentHealth & Dental Care for Children


Family Survey – Child DevelopmentReading & Books in the Home


Family Survey – Child DevelopmentActivities Shared with Child in Past Week


Educator Survey - OverviewSurvey Design and Administration


o Representative Sample Design – Outreach sample included 415 centers representing approximately 1,400 educators and a sample of 1,300 family child care providers. The outreach sample was allocated by county to ensure geographic representation and by type of care. Also posted a public version of the survey on the EEC homepage.

o Outreach Campaign – Fliers mailed to selected centers and family child care providers, in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Centers forwarded survey information to educators for completion. Surveys were completed on-line, and EPS agencies made calls and sent e-mails to encourage participation. Incentive offered for participation. Link to public version of survey forwarded to educators in PQR

o Data Collection – Data collection began on October 17 and continued through November 30. The team received 875 responses to the representative sample survey and 1,898 responses to the public version of the survey

Educator Survey – Profile of ResponsesResponses by EEC Region


Educator Survey – Profile of ResponsesResponses by Race and Age


Educator Survey – Profile of ResponsesResponses by Type of Care and Age of Children Served


Educator Survey – Profile of ResponsesResponses by Educational Attainment


Educator Survey – Profile of ResponsesTraining & Educational Attainment in Early Ed.


o Educators were most likely to view the following characteristics as “very important” to program quality: attention to child safety, demonstrating warmth toward children, the attention children receive, teaching children to get along with others, the cleanliness of the program and communicating with families about their children. (Please see attached “Educator Views on Quality” for details.)

o Educators were least likely to view the following characteristics as “very important” to program quality: the presence of children of different ages, the presence of children of different ethnic groups, teaching children things about their community, the extent to which child activities are structured.

Educator Survey – Views on QualityResponses to Questions on Program Quality


o Most educators express satisfaction with working in the field of early education, with 57% who “strongly agree” they are satisfied, 38% who “agree,” 1% who “disagree” and 3% who selected “neither”

o A majority of educators also report plans for a long-term career in early childhood education, with 52% who “strongly agree” the intend on a long-term career, 31% who “agree,” 3% who “disagree,” 1% who “strongly disagree” and 12% who selected “neither”

o Educators overwhelmingly identify “working with children” as the reason they went to work in the field of early childhood education. Of the educators responding, 89% selected “working with children,” 28% selected “to help families,” 3% selected “only job qualified for” and 2% selected “job training program”

Educator Survey – Educator Preparation & StabilityJob Satisfaction


o When asked about their professional skills and abilities, educators were most likely to “strongly agree” with the following statements:

80% - I understand that children have different learning styles 71% - I establish respectful and productive relationships with families64% - I understand how child development influences learning styles62% - I am committed to continually developing practices to address the individual needs of children

o When asked about their professional skills and abilities, educators were least likely to “strongly agree” with the following statements:

27% - I know strategies to support the learning of English language learners38% - I receive feedback on my instructional practices and professional development from my supervisor35% - I use community resources to foster learning41% - I am effective in accommodating children with special needs

o See attached “Educator Professional Skills and Abilities” for detail

Educator Survey – Educator Preparation & StabilityProfessional Skills and Abilities


o When asked about working with children with behavioral challenges, only 31% of educators “strongly agree” or “agree” that children with behavioral challenges are well supported in their homes.

o When asked about working with children with behavioral challenges, 77% of educators feel that they are supported by their program, family child care system, or peer support group in managing children with behavioral challenges.

o Of the educators responding, only 4% report that they have had to terminate or suspend children or families in their program within the past year due to behavioral challenges and 3% report that that they have had to limit the hours of participation

Educator Survey – Educator Preparation & StabilityManaging Challenging Behaviors


o Of the educators in the sample, 52% report working with children who are English language learners or who have other special needs. Of those educators, 39% report working with English language learners, 23% report working with children who have special needs and 37% report working with both groups of children

o Of the educators who report working with children who have special needs, 95% report that they “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are effective in adapting to accommodate the needs of children who have special needs.

Educator Survey – Educator Preparation & StabilityWorking with Children Who Have Special Needs


o Of the educators who report working with English language learners, they most commonly reported speaking with children in Spanish (47%), Portuguese (9%), French 96%) and Mandarin (5%)

o When asked how frequently they spoke with children in another language, 62% report that they “rarely” or “very rarely” speak with children in another language, 20% report “sometimes” and 18% report that they “often” or “always” speak with children in another language.

o Of the educators who report working with children who are English language learners, 85% report that they “agree” or “strongly agree” that they know strategies to support their learning needs.

Educator Survey – Educator Preparation & StabilityWorking With English Language Learners


o Research team will discuss implications for research questions with EEC and board and incorporate feedback into final report

o Final report will further probe variations in family responses by race and ethnicity, income and family structure

o Final report will further probe variations in educator responses by type of care and educational attainment

o Final report will also summarize responses to the public version of the family survey by EEC region

Next StepsAdditional Analysis & Final Report


Background Supplement SAC Needs Assessment: Survey Results Board of Early Education and Care January 10, 2012.

Documents

eec needs assessment

needs assessmentpage

research framework survey

young children

set of survey questions

surveys of families

groups of research questions

massachusetts children