1. Low-Income Children and Early Childhood Education National Perspectives on Texas J. Lee Kreader, Ph.D. Deputy Director National Center for Children in Poverty LBJ School of Public Affairs University of Texas at Austin October 29, 2012

2. www.nccp.org National Center for Children in Poverty  NCCP is a leading public policy center dedicated to the economic security, health, and well-being of America’s low-income children and families.  Part of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, NCCP promotes family-oriented solutions at the state and national levels.  Our Vision:  Families that are economically secure  Strong, nurturing families  Healthy child development

3. www.nccp.org Presentation Overview and Resources  Early Childhood Population  NCCP’s State Demographic Profiles  NCCP’s Young Child Risk Calculator  Early Childhood Education—Access and Quality  NCCP’s State Policy Profiles: Improving the Odds for Young Children www.nccp.org

4. Resources continued  Research from other organizations, including Child Trends University of Minnesota, Liz Davis National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers National Women’s Law Center  Much is accessible through NCCP’s Child Care & Early Education Research Connections www.researchconnections.org

5. www.nccp.org The Early Childhood Population Poverty and Low Income

6. www.nccp.org

11. Young Children in Texas, by Income Level, 2010

12. www.nccp.org The Early Childhood Population Selected Dimensions of Poverty

13. www.nccp.org Young Children in Poor Families Texas, by Race/Ethnicity, 2010

14. www.nccp.org Young Children in Poor Families in Texas, by Parents’ Nativity, 2010

15. www.nccp.org Young Children in Low-income Families in Texas, by Residence, 2010

16. www.nccp.org The Early Childhood Population’s Risks  Living in poverty  Living in linguistically isolated household  Living with four or more children  Parent has less than a high school education  Children have changed residences in last 12 months  Living with a single parent  Having a teen mother  Parent has no paid employment

17. www.nccp.org

20. Access to Early Childhood Education

21. www.nccp.org

22. Texas Public School Prekindergarten  NIEER State Preschool Yearbook, 2011  Access- 8 th nationally for 4-year-olds—52% 12 th for 3-year-olds—6%  Resources- 22 nd for State Spending--$3,761 per child enrolled 27 th for All Reported Spending  Quality Benchmarks- 4 of 10 met—Comprehensive Early Learning Standards, Teacher BA & Specialized Training, Teacher In-Service

23. www.nccp.org Quality of Early Childhood Education

24. www.nccp.org Quality of Care Used by 24-Month-Olds by Family Poverty Status Source. Analyses of the ECLS-B data conducted by Child Trends. Analyses conducted on the full subsample of children for whom there is quality observation data

25. www.nccp.org

26. Promoting the use of regulated care: Texas’ “Don’t be in the dark” campaign  Your year-long television and radio campaign in 2010 to educate parents/caregivers about the importance of choosing regulated care.  From your website: www.DontBeInTheDark.orgwww.DontBeInTheDark.org  “ Unregulated child care may seem convenient and affordable but it leaves you and your child in the dark.”  “ Unregulated care means no inspections, no training, no one enforcing basic health and safety standards, and no compliance record to check.”  Links to state website for searching for licensed child care providers, including 2 years of compliance history at: TxChildCareSearch.org

27. www.nccp.org Promoting use of high quality programs: QRIS Quality Rating and Improvement System: Components 1. Quality standards 2. Process to assign ratings 3. Supports for program quality improvement 4. Financial incentives for programs and parents 5. Outreach and marketing

28. www.nccp.org The number of QRIS in states and local areas has increased dramatically in recent years. Tout et al., 2010

29. www.nccp.org Density of eligible program participation in QRIS Percent range of all programs participating in the QRISNumber of QRIS* 60% or greater 6 :New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee 30 to 59% 4 :California (LA County), District of Columbia, Florida Miami Dade a Louisiana 10 to 29% 9 : Colorado, Florida (Palm Beach) b, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Vermont, Virginia Less than 10% 3 : Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire Tout et al., 2010

30. www.nccp.org Moving Forward.....  Congratulations to Texas on its rich Needs Assessment—sure to help the state better understand and respond to the needs of its early childhood population enhance its range of services  And to the Early Learning Council on promising initiatives—several of which anticipate recommendations from the Needs Assessment... and from NCCP’s tools.  Thank you for the opportunity to share some perspectives and resources and to learn from you.