Boston Family Child Care Study Boston CPC Family Child Care Committee September 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 Study  Visited 52 Family Child Care Homes  Homes were randomly selected Areas of Assessment:  Space & Furnishings  Basic Care  Language-Reasoning  Learning Activities  Social Development  Adult Needs Methodology  FDCRS  Provider Interviews  Family Survey “Boston Quality Inventory: Family Child Care Homes” Nancy Marshall, Joanne Roberts Wellesley 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 “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: Corey Zimmerman x