Investment in Quality Child Care Pays Off - Hartford Foundation for ...

Hartford ChildrenLearning are byLeaps BoundsandAchievements of Children Involvedin Brighter Futures Child CareEnhancement ProjectOctober 2004

OVERVIEWOver the years, a great deal of attention has been paid to increasing the school readiness of youngchildren. A major breakthrough has been made here in Hartford involving children attendingchild care centers that receive special support from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.Hartford preschoolers who attended 14 child care centers, where staff receive intensive trainingand on-site consultation in a state-of-the-art early childhood curriculum, have demonstratedsignificant improvements in their readiness forschool.The children’s dramatic progress toward schoolreadiness is concrete evidence that intensive trainingand development for child care staff and a focus oncurriculum does help prepare children for school –and later success in school. For the Foundation, it isconfirmation that its investment in early childhoodeducation for Hartford children is paying off.RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSUsing the Early Screening Profile, a nationally-normed instrument that assesses children in fivemajor developmental areas associated with school readiness, independent researchers found that:1. On each dimension assessed, students achieved significant gains fromthe fall to the spring that were far greater than those they would haveachieved through normal development; and2. On each dimension, students assessed in May 2004 scored significantlyhigher than students graduating in 2003 from the same centers, indicatingthat the assistance provided through the Foundation’s Brighter FuturesChild Care Enhancement Project over the course of the year is having asubstantial positive benefit for the children enrolled in these centers.3. The students assessed in May 2004 scored considerably higher than thenational average, after having begun the year slightly below the nationalaverage.

INCREASING SCHOOL READINESSSince 1990, when it developed its Brighter Futures Initiative, the Hartford Foundation has madea focused, intensive effort to increase the school readiness of Hartford’s children. This involvesa $25 million commitment over 20 years to improve the early education and health care of youngchildren and provide supports to their families.As part of Brighter Futures, the Foundation created athree-year, $2 million Child Care EnhancementProject to strengthen 14 child care centers in Hartford.The centers serve approximately 1,000 children, ages eightweeks to five years of age, and employ approximately 250early childhood professionals.Funding was provided to increase staff training andtechnical support to implement a state-of-the-art earlychildhood curriculum, calledThe Creative Curriculum.Foundation support alsoenabled the 14 centers toimprove program quality by:increasing staff qualifications,enhancing business planningand marketing, making facilityimprovements, strengtheningparent engagement, increasingstaff time for planning and development, andimproving management, leadership, and supervision.As a result of these improvements, the school readinessof children attending these centers was expected toincrease.In order to determine the effectiveness of theProject in increasing the readiness of children enteringkindergarten, the Foundation commissioned PhilliberResearch Associates to evaluate this project andconduct this study.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGYEarly Screening Profiles are used to measurethe school readiness of children attendingeach of these centers. This tool assesseschildren in five major developmental areasassociated with school readiness. Cognitiveskills, language skills,and motor skills aremeasured throughinteraction directlywith the children.Self-help and socialskills are obtainedfrom reports byteachers about whatthey have seen eachchild do.Early Screening Profileshave been testednationally and foundto produce resultsthat are both reliableand valid. In additionto raw scores, the profilesinclude nationalpercentile ranks thattake into account theperformance of otherchildren of the sameage. Thus, childrenwith a percentile rankof 60 have scored above 60% of the nationalsample of children the same age. Whenchildren score higher from one test period toanother, their new score reflects gainsthey’ve achieved beyond those they wouldhave achieved through natural development.For example, children whose percentile rankincreased from 60 at the initial testing to 80at a later testingdeveloped faster thanmany children theirsame age, so thatthese children nowrank above 80% ofthe children nationally.The averagechild in the nationranks at the 50thpercentile.Paraprofessionals(e.g., school aides,home visitors), andother communitymembers were trainedto conduct the assessments.Traininginvolved the completionof a one-dayseminar conductedby Philliber ResearchAssociates as well asongoing supervisionthroughout the datacollection process. Assessments wereconducted in English or Spanish. 11There are no norms for the Spanish version of the test. The assessments were scored using the English norms.

FINDINGSEarly Screening Profile assessments were madeof 188 children who were enrolled in child carecenters in October 2003 and also again of thesame children in May 2004. These childrenwere moving up to kindergarten in the fall. 2Comparison of fall and spring assessmentsdemonstrates two major results:> First, during the year, students significantlyincreased their abilities in each area.> Second, they were substantially above thenational average on every dimension by spring2004. Their cognitive and total achievementswere higher than two-thirds of similar agechildren in thenation, and their motor and self-help profilescores were higher than three out of five.100%90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%10%0%56%Cognitive/LanguageProfile(n = 188)Early Screening Profiles***66%(Average Percentile Rank)2004 Graduates52%MotorProfile(n = 162)**58% ***57%44%Self-Help/SocialProfile(n = 188)** Difference is statistically significant at p

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTThis study demonstrates that focused,intentional intervention to improve thequality of child care can, within a relativelyshort period of time, result in significantimprovements in the school readiness ofyoung children.While it is not possible at this pointto say which specific elements of theBrighter Futures Child CareEnhancement Project, have provento be the key variables that have led todramatic increases in children’s scores onthe Early Screening Profile, it is clear thatfocused attention by staff on curriculumis key to the improvement of programquality in child care.The goal of the Brighter Futures ChildCare Enhancement Project is to createmeasurable changes in children’s readinessfor school by making improvements inchild care programs. The improvementsin the school readiness ofgraduating preschoolersfrom the 14 participatingcenters confirm that theFoundation’s investmentin the Child CareEnhancement Projectis paying off.

FOR MORE INFORMATIONFor more information about Brighter Futures and the Child Care EnhancementProject, contact:Richard A. SussmanDirector, Brighter Futures InitiativeHartford Foundation for Public Giving85 Gillett Street, Hartford, CT 06105860-548-1888rsussman@hfpg.orgJudith GoldfarbDirector, Hartford Area Child Care Collaborative221 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06106860-241-0411judy_goldfarb@hartnet.orgFor technical information about the study contact:Philliber Research Associates16 Main StreetAccord, NY 12404845-626-2126billpra@compuserve.com

860-548-1888 • www.hfpg.orgThe Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for the 29-town Capitol Region, devotedto building successful partnerships with donors and nonprofits to enhance the quality of life for people in our community.