Child Care Quality Study: Does Partnering with Head Start Make a Difference? Diane Schilder, Benjamin Chauncey, Ashley Smith, Candy Miller and Sheila Skiffington Education Development Center, Inc. Newton, MA Description of the Research Research questions: Do child care providers that partner with Head Start provide higher quality services than comparison providers not in partnership? Do child care center classrooms at partnering centers have higher scores on observational measures than comparison centers? Do children attending partnering programs perform better on assessments of school readiness than comparison children? Do family child care homes have higher scores on observational measures than comparison homes not in partnership? What is the relationship between structural variables of quality and observed quality? And children’s school readiness? Definition of partnership: Child care providers that have a contract with Head Start to provide a combination of child care and Head Start services.Design: Survey, observational, and child assessment data collected from a randomly selected sample of Ohio child care providers engaged in partnership and comparison providers.Sample: Stratified random sample of child care providers in Ohio partnership with Head Start, and comparison providers not in partnership.  44 classrooms of programs in partnership with Head Start  28 comparison classrooms  1515 parents within centers (data collected between and is now in existing database)  324 teachers within centers (data collected between and is now in existing database)  78 Family child care programs partnering with Head StartMethods/Measures Description of Partnerships Why Ohio? Many child care centers and family child care homes are partnering with Head Start. Demographics are typical of the nation. Child care licensing standards are about in the middle in terms of group size, ratios, teacher educational requirements, etc. Researchers are building on a previous study conducted in Ohio-- Partnership Impact study. Status EDC received a field-initiated child care research grant from the Child Care Bureau in October 2004 to begin the work on the new study With researchers at Ohio State University, EDC researchers are collecting data from sample of children at partnership centers and comparison centers In the Spring 2005, researchers will: collect observational data from the sample of selected classrooms; pilot test survey of family child care providers In late spring/early summer researchers will: collect child assessment data In the summer 2005 researchers will analyze the relationship between observed classroom quality, school readiness data and structural variables of quality from the existing database developed from the Partnership Impact study Description of Partnership Impact study Background Research question: Is there a relationship between partnering with Head Start and child care center quality and provision of comprehensive services? Design: Three-year longitudinal survey research with data collected from a randomly selected sample of Ohio child care centers engaged in partnership and comparison providers. Methods/Measures: Surveys of child care directors, teachers, and parents of children attending the centers. Reviews of state child care licensing records. Definition of partnership: Child care providers that have a contract with Head Start to provide a combination of child care and Head Start services. Sample: Stratified random sample of child care providers in Ohio partnership with Head Start, and comparison providers not in partnership. Centers include 78 centers in partnership with Head Start and 63 comparison classrooms. Sample of 1515 parents and 324 teachers within centers. Description of Partnerships Duration of partnerships varies Range of partnership duration is less than 1 year old to more than 9 years old. Median partnership is 2.9 years Findings from Partnership Impact study Directors of Partnership Centers Report Receiving Additional Resources from Head Start Nearly 90 percent of partnering child care centers receive funds directly from Head Start Nearly all of the partnering centers receive between $1,400 and $3,000 per year per child from Head Start Most partnering centers (70 percent) use funds for equipment such as science centers or bookshelves and supplies such as art supplies and curriculum materials Many partnering centers (over half) use funds for training or to enhance teachers’ salaries Head Start also provides equipment, supplies, training, and materials directly to centers Half of the partnering centers receive equipment directly from Head Start 60 percent receive supplies from Head Start 90 percent receive training from Head Start Head Start hires and supervises teachers who work in the child care centers About a third of partnering centers report that Head Start hires teachers to work in their centers Well Defined Goals/Good Communication Predict Benefits of Partnership Both well-defined goals and levels of communication were found to be significantly related to benefits for centers overall (F=39.11; p<. 001). Together these two variables explain 43 percent of the variation in benefits for centers overall (r 2 =. 43). (See Figure 1) Both well-defined goals and levels of communication were also found to be significantly related to benefits for staff (F=15.86; p<. 001). Together these two variables explain 24 percent of the variation in benefits for staff (r 2 =. 24). (See Figure 2) Figure 1: Figure 2: Good Communication/Benefits to Staff Predicts Benefits of Partnership to Families The level of communication together with benefits and improvements for staff were found to be significantly related to benefits and improvements for families (F=37.28; p<. 001). Together these two variables explain 48 percent of the variation in benefits for centers overall (r 2 =. 476). (See Figure 3) Figure 3: Centers in Partnership are More Likely to Offer Screenings, Referrals, and Services to Children and Families  The number of child screenings, referrals, and services that child care centers in partnership provided was 7.88 compared with 3.86 at comparison centers. (See Figure 4)  The number of parent referrals and services that centers in partnership provided was 5.65 compared with 3.05 at comparison centers. Figure 4: Partnership Related to Some Improvements in Teacher Satisfaction Teachers from partnership centers were significantly more likely to report greater satisfaction with job quality. (See Figure 5) Figure 5: Next Steps Finalize Partnership Report Continue to collect data from child care centers and begin family child care home data collection Contact information: Diane Schilder, Benjamin Chauncey, Child care classroom-level data:  ECERS  ELLCO Child-level data:  PPVT-3 or TVIP  PALS  PLS  PreLAS Existing Center Survey Data:  Directors  Teachers  Parents Family Child Care Homes:  Provider Surveys  Observations---- FDCRS & ORCE