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

Overview of Discussion Overview of Research Framework Summary of Family Survey Results & Observations Summary of Educator Survey Results & Observations Conclusions and Next Steps in Analysis Page 1 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Overview of Policy Context Program Quality & School Readiness 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 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 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 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 Page 2 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Overview of Research Framework Survey Data to Inform Needs Assessment 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 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 Using questions compiled from surveys implemented across the country, the WCCW research team recommended a set of survey questions for each survey The questions for each survey were organized around one of five groups of research questions developed by WCCW Page 3 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Overview of Research Framework Key Research Questions Demand for Services - What are the needs for families to support child development? 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? Child Development - Are children, birth to age 8, on track to succeed when they enter school and beyond? 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? Educator Views on Quality - How does the workforce define and understand quality? Page 4 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey - Overview Survey Design and Administration 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 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 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 Page 5 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Profile of Families Distribution of Responses by County Page 6 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Profile of Families Distribution of Responses by Income & Education Page 7 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Profile of Families Distribution of Responses by Race/Ethnicity Page 8 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Demand for Services Early Education & School-Age Programs 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. 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. 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 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 Page 9 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Demand for Services Family Views on Program Quality 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) 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) Page 10 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Access to Services & Supports Primary Early Education & Care Arrangements 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 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. Page 11 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Access to Services & Supports Secondary Early Education & Care Arrangements Of the families that identified a primary care arrangement, 13% of them also report having a secondary or back-up care arrangement. Unlike their primary care arrangement, families are more likely to use secondary care arrangements for fewer hours per week. 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. Page 12 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Access to Services & Supports Challenges in Searching for Programs 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 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” 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. Page 13 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Access to Services & Supports Access to Financial Assistance 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 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. Page 14 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Access to Services & Supports Educational Options for School-Age Children 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 Page 15 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Access to Services & Supports Access to Information When Selecting a Program Families rely strongly on informal referrals to find out about early education and school-age care arrangements. In 39% of the families surveyed, the family heard about their primary care arrangement through neighbors, friends, relatives or community groups. 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. Page 16 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Access to Services & Supports Activities Shared With Children Within Past Month Page 17 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Access to Services & Supports Satisfaction with Services in the Neighborhood 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%) 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” 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%) 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 Page 18 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Access to Services & Supports Family Strengths in Solving Problems 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. Page 19 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Child Development Children With Special Needs or Health Conditions 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   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. Page 20 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Child Development Health & Dental Care for Children 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. 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 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 Page 21 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Child Development Reading & Books in the Home Page 22 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Family Survey – Child Development Activities Shared with Child in Past Week Page 23 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey - Overview Survey Design and Administration 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. 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 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 Page 24 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Profile of Responses Responses by EEC Region Page 25 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Profile of Responses Responses by Race and Age Page 26 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Profile of Responses Responses by Type of Care and Age of Children Served Page 27 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Profile of Responses Responses by Educational Attainment Page 28 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Profile of Responses Training & Educational Attainment in Early Ed. Page 29 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Views on Quality Responses to Questions on Program Quality 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.) 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. Page 30 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Educator Preparation & Stability Job Satisfaction 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” 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” 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” Page 31 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Educator Preparation & Stability Professional Skills and Abilities 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 families 64% - I understand how child development influences learning styles 62% - I am committed to continually developing practices to address the individual needs of children 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 learners 38% - I receive feedback on my instructional practices and professional development from my supervisor 35% - I use community resources to foster learning 41% - I am effective in accommodating children with special needs See attached “Educator Professional Skills and Abilities” for detail Page 32 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Educator Preparation & Stability Managing Challenging Behaviors 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. 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. 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 Page 33 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Educator Preparation & Stability Working with Children Who Have Special Needs 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 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. Page 34 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Educator Survey – Educator Preparation & Stability Working With English Language Learners 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%) 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. 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. Page 35 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011

Next Steps Additional Analysis & Final Report Research team will discuss implications for research questions with EEC and board and incorporate feedback into final report Final report will further probe variations in family responses by race and ethnicity, income and family structure Final report will further probe variations in educator responses by type of care and educational attainment Final report will also summarize responses to the public version of the family survey by EEC region Page 36 SAC Needs Assessment - 2011