Early Learning Quality Improvement Initiatives in Los Angeles County

1. Early Learning Quality Improvement Initiatives in Los Angeles County An analysis of local programs and initiatives Prepared by Laura Escobedo Los Angeles County Child Care Planning Committee March 2009

2. Scope of ECE in Los Angeles County 3,357 licensed centers 11,572 licensed family child care homes 150 CDE-funded agencies/school-districts Largest Head Start grantee in the nation 450,000+ children (0-5 yrs) with parents in the workforce. 40,000+ children on LACEL 10 Resource & Referral Agencies 21 % are CDe funded; 10% Head Start; 11% operated by School-districts (less than 2 % non-CDE-funded); 23% are private proprietary; 15% community (not CDE-funded); 20% sponsored/run by religious congregations. LACOE is the largest Grantee in the nation with 26 delegate agencies serving over 23,000 preschoolers and nearly 800 infant and toddlers in early Head Start. Of the children in working families, 65% of the infants are in license-exempt care, 23 % of preschoolers are in license-exempt care. About 16% of all infants and preschooler use family Child Care (nearly 70,000 children). 21 % are CDe funded; 10% Head Start; 11% operated by School-districts (less than 2 % non-CDE-funded); 23% are private proprietary; 15% community (not CDE-funded); 20% sponsored/run by religious congregations. LACOE is the largest Grantee in the nation with 26 delegate agencies serving over 23,000 preschoolers and nearly 800 infant and toddlers in early Head Start. Of the children in working families, 65% of the infants are in license-exempt care, 23 % of preschoolers are in license-exempt care. About 16% of all infants and preschooler use family Child Care (nearly 70,000 children).

3. Efforts to Improve and Evaluate Quality in Los Angeles County Programs/Initiatives LACOE Head Start Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) Steps to Excellence (STEP) First 5LA School Readiness Initiative (SRI) LACOE Family Literacy Support Network (FLSN) LACOE California Preschool Instructional Network (CPIN) This is not an exhaustive list; but may convey the scope of endeavors in LA County. Some of these provide direct services to children and families. Some are designed to support the provision of quality services.This is not an exhaustive list; but may convey the scope of endeavors in LA County. Some of these provide direct services to children and families. Some are designed to support the provision of quality services.

4. Outcomes for Children Quality of the program or provider High quality child care and development programs will be available for all Providers operate at a 3 star level of quality and improve over time Parents as consumers, advocates Will be effective champions for their children More informed consumers in regards to selecting high quality child care Children will be ready for kindergarten In all areas of development and approach toward learning Parents will be ready to support the transition to kindergarten Outcomes that are/would be impacted by the quality initiatives, standards, or activities that are elements of the program or service.Outcomes that are/would be impacted by the quality initiatives, standards, or activities that are elements of the program or service.

5. Structure/Context Primary purpose: Child service; quality is integrated into program (Head Start, LAUP) Improving quality (STEP, LAUP, LACOE FLSN) Primary drivers: Funding type and mandated regulations (Head Start) Local stakeholders/funders; policy as opposed to regulations. (LAUP, STEP, First 5LA SRI, FLSN) Contract requirements (LAUP, SRI, FLSN) Secondary driver: Public Policy Issues What is the context for the quality activities: program type, funding sources, program or performance drivers, expectations and standards. Public policy Issues may have been the catalyst for creating or expanding programs, but tend to be secondary when programs face more immediate contractual and regulatory drivers. What is the context for the quality activities: program type, funding sources, program or performance drivers, expectations and standards. Public policy Issues may have been the catalyst for creating or expanding programs, but tend to be secondary when programs face more immediate contractual and regulatory drivers.

6. Professional Qualifications and Development Stated minimum education qualifications for direct service staff (Head Start, LAUP, STEP) Expectations or requirements that staff increase their educational attainment (degrees, certificates, etc. (Head Start, LAUP, STEP) Integration of ongoing staff development to attain competencies required for effective provision of service and to achieve goals. (Head Start, LAUP, STEP, SRI/FLSN, CPIN) Head Start and LAUP have clearly describe standards for staff that are responsible for providing the direct service to children (Performance Standards and Star Quality ratings). STEP describes levels of qualifications that are minimum requirements for moving from one STEP to the next. EXAMPLES: For STEP level 3 and LAUP, teachers must have at least a Child development Teacher�s permit; Each of these also have expectations for improving the level of qualifications of staff through direct intervention and supports, workforce initiatives, personnel policies and incentives. EXAMPLES: Head Start, by 2013 at least 50% of teachers must have Bachelors degrees. To move up to level 5 for LAUP, STEP teachers must have BA degrees. In addition these programs and initiatives include or collaborate with programs that provide ongoing staff development aimed at particular skills or competencies necessary to achieve program goals and affect outcomes. EXAMPLES: SRI staff must participate in at least 24 hour s of training provided by the FLSN; LAUP and Head Start teaching staff must complete 15 hours of professional development activities annually; STEP levels describe work policies that encourage and enable professional development. Head Start and LAUP have clearly describe standards for staff that are responsible for providing the direct service to children (Performance Standards and Star Quality ratings). STEP describes levels of qualifications that are minimum requirements for moving from one STEP to the next. EXAMPLES: For STEP level 3 and LAUP, teachers must have at least a Child development Teacher�s permit; Each of these also have expectations for improving the level of qualifications of staff through direct intervention and supports, workforce initiatives, personnel policies and incentives. EXAMPLES: Head Start, by 2013 at least 50% of teachers must have Bachelors degrees. To move up to level 5 for LAUP, STEP teachers must have BA degrees. In addition these programs and initiatives include or collaborate with programs that provide ongoing staff development aimed at particular skills or competencies necessary to achieve program goals and affect outcomes. EXAMPLES: SRI staff must participate in at least 24 hour s of training provided by the FLSN; LAUP and Head Start teaching staff must complete 15 hours of professional development activities annually; STEP levels describe work policies that encourage and enable professional development.

7. Collaborations Provide or expand health, mental health, and social services required by regulation or policy (Head Start, SRI) Obtain specialized training for staff (SRI/FLSN, LAUP, Head Start) Facilitate educational attainment (IHE) and build potential workforce (LAUP, Head Start) Advise on outcomes, evaluation, and program improvement strategies (STEP, LAUP, FLSN) These are seen as essential to being able to provide required and/or quality components of a program. Professional development activities frequently involve a collaboration. These are seen as essential to being able to provide required and/or quality components of a program. Professional development activities frequently involve a collaboration.

8. Data and Evaluations Direct child assessment data Parent surveys (pre-post) Scores from environmental rating scales Data on staff educational qualifications, group sizes, ratios, work environment and policies Number of participants, activities Number of training hours, units, etc. Staff retention rates This is the gamut of data types collected by the various programs. This is the gamut of data types collected by the various programs.

9. Data and Evaluations Program evaluations: Internal evaluations and data collection related to program activities (�Framework for Continuous Quality Improvement�- FLSN) Process evaluations related to quality activities External Evaluations Outcome Evaluations conducted by research groups External implementation/process evaluations EXAMPLES: The Framework for Continuous Quality improvement is both a self-evaluation and a validation system aimed at improving the functioning of an entire agency, not just a single program type. ECERS and other environmental rating scale evaluations focus on one aspect of a program; K-readiness assessment is aimed at measuring child outcomes. EXAMPLES: The Framework for Continuous Quality improvement is both a self-evaluation and a validation system aimed at improving the functioning of an entire agency, not just a single program type. ECERS and other environmental rating scale evaluations focus on one aspect of a program; K-readiness assessment is aimed at measuring child outcomes.

10. Issues�� Funding �.to implement countywide, to allow for full data collection and evaluation, continuous improvement practices. Existing measures don�t assess all areas of importance yet Diversity in implementation makes it difficult to measure impact, relate it to specific practice. Inconsistent data collection of key indicators Promotion of quality standards to parents/public