Boston Family Child Care Boston Family Child Care StudyStudy

Boston CPC Family Child Care CommitteeBoston CPC Family Child Care Committee

September 18, 2007September 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 StudyScope of the Study

Visited 52 Family Child Care Homes

Homes were randomly selected

Areas of Assessment:Areas of Assessment:

Space & Furnishings Basic Care Language-Reasoning Learning Activities Social Development Adult Needs

MethodologyMethodology

FDCRS Provider Interviews Family Survey

“Boston Quality Inventory: Family Child Care Homes”Nancy Marshall, Joanne RobertsWellesley 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

52%

73%

21%27%

19%

31%

35%

27%

52%

48%

38%

13%

50%

13%

27% 25%

42%

87%

19%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Space andFurnishings

Basic Care Language-Reasoning

LearningActivities

SocialDevelopment

Adult Needs Total

Inadequate Adequate Good

“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:For more information and full copies of the reports:

Corey ZimmermanCorey Zimmerman617-695-0700 x 229617-695-0700 x 229

czimmerman@associatedece.orgczimmerman@associatedece.orgwww.bostonequip.orgwww.bostonequip.org