Illinois Preschool for All (PFA) Program Evaluation
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Illinois Preschool for All (PFA) Program Evaluation March 2012 Illinois State Board of Education Illinois Preschool for All (PFA) Program Evaluation Erika Gaylor, Ph.D. Center for Education and Human Services SRI International Donna Spiker, Ph.D. Center for Education and Human Services SRI International Jana Fleming, Ph.D. Herr Research Center for Children and Social Policy Erikson Institute Jon Korfmacher, Ph.D Erikson Institute Funded by the Illinois State Board of Education Funding: This study was funded by the Illinois State Board of Education under contract with Erikson Institute. Erikson Institute subcontracted with SRI International to assist with the evaluation. Any opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the funding agency. About the Authors: Erika Gaylor is an early childhood researcher and Donna Spiker is a program manager in the Center for Education and Human Services at SRI International in Menlo Park, CA. Jana Fleming is the director of the Herr Research Center for Children and Social Policy and Jon Korfmacher is an associate professor at Erikson Institute in Chicago, IL. Acknowledgements: We thank the teachers in the Preschool for All and kindergarten programs who generously responded to our surveys in the fall of the 2009 and the fall of 2010 and who welcomed us into their classrooms to assess children and observe the educational setting. We thank the children who engaged in the assessments and the parents who graciously agreed to allow their children to participate. We also would like to thank all those at Erikson Institute and SRI International who contributed to the work and spent time collecting and analyzing data and editing this report. Suggested Citation: Gaylor, E., Spiker, D., Fleming, J., and Korfmacher, J. (2012). Illinois Preschool For All (PFA) Program Evaluation. Erikson Institute, Herr Research Center for Children and Social Policy. For more information about this study, contact: Herr Research Center for Children and Social Policy Erikson Institute 451 N. LaSalle Street www.erikson.edu/hrc Email: [email protected] SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue Menlo Park, CA 94025 http://policyweb.sri.com/cehs Email: [email protected] i CONTENTS Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... vi Introduction…… ............................................................................................................................ 1 Overview of the PFA Evaluation ................................................................................................... 3 Sample Selection .................................................................................................................... 3 Measures ................................................................................................................................ 4 Child Development and School Readiness Measures ...................................................... 4 Program Quality Measures ............................................................................................... 5 Staff Characteristics Measures ......................................................................................... 6 Program Characteristics Measures ................................................................................... 6 Family and Child Characteristics Measures ...................................................................... 7 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 7 Key Findings ................................................................................................................................. 9 School Readiness Outcomes .................................................................................................. 9 Outcomes for All Children ................................................................................................. 9 Outcomes by Poverty and Risk Status ............................................................................ 12 Quality of PFA Programs ...................................................................................................... 13 Overall Classroom Quality .............................................................................................. 13 Findings from Other Studies ........................................................................................... 15 PFA Staff Characteristics ...................................................................................................... 18 Demographics of Lead Teachers .................................................................................... 18 Education and Experience of Lead Teachers ................................................................. 18 Teacher Perceptions ....................................................................................................... 19 PFA Program Characteristics ............................................................................................... 20 Location and Program Size ............................................................................................. 20 Enrollment Criteria .......................................................................................................... 21 Family Support Services ................................................................................................. 22 Professional Development Needs of Staff ...................................................................... 22 Collaboration with Other Programs ................................................................................. 23 Characteristics Of Children And Families Served By PFA Programs ................................... 23 Demographic Information of Participating Children ......................................................... 23 Parent Involvement ......................................................................................................... 25 Study Limitations ......................................................................................................................... 27 Summary of Findings and Implications For Policy and Practice ................................................. 28 Conclusions……. ........................................................................................................................ 31 Appendix A. Summary of Methodology ...................................................................................... 32 Initial Data Collection with Web-based Surveys ................................................................... 32 Overview of PFA Outcome Evaluation .................................................................................. 32 ii Sampling ............................................................................................................................... 32 Power Analysis for Sample for Outcome Evaluation ....................................................... 32 Recruiting the Sample of PFA Programs, Teachers, and Children ................................. 34 Information about Measures ................................................................................................. 35 Program Quality and Implementation Measures ............................................................. 35 Child Assessment Measures ........................................................................................... 37 Parent Interview .............................................................................................................. 38 Incentives For Programs And Families ................................................................................. 38 Analysis of Child Assessment Data ...................................................................................... 39 Sample Attrition ............................................................................................................... 39 Statistical Analyses ......................................................................................................... 39 Appendix B. School Readiness Outcomes by Poverty and Risk Status ..................................... 40 Vocabulary Skills ................................................................................................................... 40 Early Literacy Skills Identification Skills ................................................................................ 41 Early Math Skills ................................................................................................................... 42 Social Skills ........................................................................................................................... 43 Problem Behaviors ................................................................................................................ 44 Attention/Persistence Skills ................................................................................................... 45 Endnotes…….. ............................................................................................................................ 46 iii Exhibits Exhibit 1. Primary Evaluation Questions .................................................................................. 3 Exhibit 2. Child Development and School Readiness Measures ............................................. 5 Exhibit 3. Program Quality Measures .....................................................................................