Child Care and Early Education Policy and Research Analysis and Technical Expertise Project
The purpose of the competitive task order (TO) awarded to Child Trends is to support the provision of expert consultation, assessment and analysis in child care and early education policy and research to the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), including activities related to: providing expert advice, assistance and consultation in support of the agency's research priorities and goals; conducting studies to inform policy and practice and the development of new research priorities; identifying and refining measures and instruments to improve the collection of data related to program policies and practices, and to program outcomes for families and children, identifying sources of data and conducting statistical analyses on national and other original data-sets to answer questions of relevance to the Agency on child care utilization, child care supply, and the effects of child care and other early childhood policies on parental and child outcome; and, providing technical assistance and expertise in the preparation of written materials and convening of expert early childhood stakeholders. This task order also covers planning and facilitation of meetings of experts on child care research issues of relevance to the administration for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and other early childhood programs in States, Territories, and Tribes.
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
Child Care and Early Education Quality Features, Thresholds and Dosage and Child Outcomes: Study Design (Q-DOT)
This two-and-a-half year design project will examine associations between the quality of early care and education settings and child outcomes, asking whether certain thresholds of quality or dosage need to be met or particular aspects of quality need to be present before links are apparent. The project is intended to provide guidance to ACF, other federal agencies and other stakeholders to guide new research on the quality of early care and education; support quality improvement initiatives and practice; and inform policy decision-making at the state and national levels. The project will focus on center-based settings serving children from birth through age 5, focusing on children from low-income families. The research questions are: (1) What specific features of quality in center-based early care and education for children from birth to age five lead to gains in child outcomes?; (2) Are there thresholds of quality above and below which the strength of the associations between quality and child outcomes differ? For example is there a level of quality above which improvements are associated with accelerated gains in child outcomes?; (3) Is there a minimum threshold of quality necessary to affect child outcomes?; (4) Do greater dosages of quality care lead to greater gains in child outcomes?; (5) How do quality features, thresholds and dosage relate independently to child outcomes? In relation to one another?; (6) How well are existing measures of quality care capturing these thresholds and dosages?
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
Child Care Choices of Low-Income Families with Vulnerabilities
This project explores the ways in which low-income, vulnerable families choose child care. The goal is to identify the family characteristics and contextual factors that expand or limit child care choices. The three-year project takes place in several low-income, urban communities participating in the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Making Connections initiative. The sites are Oakland, Providence, Seattle, and Denver. The focus is on vulnerable families, including families who have children with special needs, parents who are English language learners or immigrants, parents receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and children at risk of maltreatment. The research includes a family study and a community study. The family study includes two rounds of field-based, semi-structured interviews with parents regarding their decision-making processes related to child care. The community study, which takes place between the two rounds of family interviews, includes interviews with key community members regarding the community and policy contexts that affect child care choices. The following research questions are addressed: (1) What factors influence choice of care among low-income working families in a diverse set of urban neighborhoods? How do different families with particular vulnerabilities make child care choices?; (2) How do child care choice processes of parents overall, and particularly families who have special vulnerabilities, interact with several key contextual factors (e.g., job options, local policies and programs)?; and (3) What family characteristics or contextual factors seem to particularly expand or constrain the child care choices of low-income families overall, and the lives of vulnerable families in particular? Which of these seem amenable to policy strategies to support choices for low-income working families, and what should these strategies be?
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
Child Care Decision-making, Subsidy Use, and the Development of Economic Self-sufficiency among Immigrant Parents of Young Children
Children of immigrants are the fastest growing segment of children in the U.S. with one quarter of children under age 18 having at least one foreign born parent (Hernandez, 2009). In addition, nearly 60%; of children of immigrants were enrolled in some form of ECCE in the year before Kindergarten (Magnuson, Lahaie, & Waldfogel, 2006). Still, we have limited understanding of immigrant families' experiences with the U.S. ECCE system. Consequently, the primary goal of this study was to provide insight into the experiences of low-income immigrant families as they navigated the early childhood care and education (ECCE) system. Specifically, African and Latino immigrants' child care decision-making experiences, their knowledge and use of child care subsidies, as well as families' strategies to achieve economic self-sufficiency were examined. The research questions were: (1) how do low-income immigrant mothers of preschool age children learn to navigate the U.S. ECCE system? Specifically, how do immigrant mothers select ECCE for their children and what factors shape this decision-making process; and (2) how do low-income immigrant families utilize ECCE, child care subsidies and other governmental supports to promote their economic self-sufficiency and support their parenting?
Administration for Children and Families/OPRE Projects
Child care for welfare participants in rural areas
A brief on the child care arrangements of the rural population.
Fact Sheets & Briefs
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Child care quality rating and improvement systems: Approaches to integrating programs for young children in two states
An examination of the role, and how to assess the role, that state child care quality rating and improvement systems can play in early childhood care and education system integration and development, based on document reviews, administrator interviews, and two-day site visits in Indiana and Pennsylvania
Reports & Papers
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Child care quality rating and improvement systems: Approaches to integrating programs for young children in two states [Executive summary]
A summary of an examination of the role, and how to assess the role, that state child care quality rating and improvement systems can play in early childhood care and education system integration and development, based on document reviews, administrator interviews, and two-day site visits in Indiana and Pennsylvania
Executive Summary
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Colorado Qualistar: QRS profile
A profile of Colorado Qualistar, the state's quality rating and improvement system for early childhood education and care programs, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, staff qualifications, and family engagement
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Compendium of quality rating systems and evaluations
A compendium of information on quality rating systems of child care and early education programs, including a proposal of an analytic framework for the assessment and evaluation of quality rating systems and profiles of such systems in 26 states
Reports & Papers
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Compendium of quality rating systems and evaluations [Executive summary]
A summary of a compendium of information on quality rating systems of child care and early education programs, including a proposal of an analytic framework for the assessment and evaluation of quality rating systems and profiles of such systems in 26 states
Executive Summary
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Defining and measuring quality: An in-depth study of five child care quality rating and improvement systems
An examination of aspects of child care quality rating and improvement systems related to definitions and measures of quality, including variation in definitions and measures, processes to measure each component and determine the overall level of quality, and availability of data on quality ratings, based on in-depth case studies in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee
Reports & Papers
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Defining and measuring quality: An in-depth study of five child care quality rating and improvement systems [Executive summary]
A summary of an examination of aspects of child care quality rating and improvement systems related to definitions and measures of quality, including variation in definitions and measures, processes to measure each component and determine the overall level of quality, and availability of data on quality ratings, based on in-depth case studies in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee
Executive Summary
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Delaware Stars for Early Success: QRS profile
A profile of Delaware Stars for Early Success, the state's quality rating and improvement system for early childhood education and care programs, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, children's assessments, staff qualifications, and program management
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: District of Columbia Going for the Gold tiered rate reimbursement system: QRS profile
A profile of District of Columbia's Going for the Gold, the tiered rate reimbursement system for the quality improvement of early childhood education and care programs in Washington, D.C., including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, and reimbursement rates
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Illinois Quality Counts: QRS profile
A profile of Illinois Quality Counts, the state's quality rating and improvement system for early childhood education and care programs, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, staff qualifications, and program management
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Indiana Paths to Quality: QRS profile
A profile of Indiana Paths to QUALITY, the state’s child care quality rating and improvement system for early childhood education and care programs, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, curricula, staff qualifications and program management
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Iowa child care quality rating system: QRS profile
A profile of Iowa’s child care quality rating system for early childhood education and care programs, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, staff qualifications and program management
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Kentucky STARS for KIDS NOW: QRS profile
A profile of Kentucky STARS for KIDS NOW, the state’s child care quality rating and improvement system for early childhood education and care programs, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, staff qualifications and program management
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Los Angeles County Steps to Excellence Project: QRS profile
A profile of the Los Angeles County Steps to Excellence Project, the child care quality rating and improvement system for early childhood education and care programs in Los Angeles County, California, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, child assessments, staff qualifications and program management
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Louisiana Quality Start child care rating system: QRS profile
A profile of the Louisiana Quality Start, the state’s child care quality rating and improvement system for early childhood education and care programs, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, child assessments, staff qualifications and program management
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) assessment: Maine Quality for ME: QRS profile
A profile of the Maine Quality for ME, the state’s child care quality rating and improvement system for early childhood education and care programs, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, curriculum, child assessments, staff qualifications and program management
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Maryland child care tiered reimbursement system: QRS profile
A profile of the Maryland Child Care Tiered Reimbursement Program, the tiered rate reimbursement system for the quality improvement of early childhood education and care programs in Maryland, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, staff qualifications, program administration, and financial incentives
Other
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Measuring quality across three child care quality rating and improvement systems: Findings from secondary analyses
A study of the prevalence of quality components among participating child care quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) providers and their relationship to observed quality, based on analyses of QRIS administrative data, professional development registries, and observation data in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Illinois, and Tennessee
Reports & Papers
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Measuring quality across three child care quality rating and improvement systems: Findings from secondary analyses [Executive summary]
A summary of a study of the prevalence of quality components among participating child care quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) providers and their relationship to observed quality, based on analyses of QRIS administrative data, professional development registries, and observation data in Miami-Dade County, Florida, Illinois, and Tennessee
Executive Summary
The Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment: Miami-Dade Quality Counts: QRS profile
A profile of Miami-Dade Quality Counts, the child care quality rating and improvement system for early childhood education and care programs in the Miami-Dade County area in Florida, including information on rating guidelines, quality indicators, curriculum, child assessments, staff qualifications and program management
Other
