A Study of Early Care and Education in Vermont

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A Study of Early Care and Education in Vermont A Study of Early Care and Education in Vermont PREPARED BY Colleen F. Manning, M.A. Margaret Vaughan, Ph.D. Lorraine Deane, M.Ph. Irene F. Goodman, Ed.D. SUBMITTED TO A. D. Henderson Foundation Permanent Fund for the Well-Being of Vermont Children Vermont Community Foundation Turrell Fund Plus two anonymous funders March 2009 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Christine Zachai, Executive Director of the Permanent Fund for the Well-Being of Vermont Children and Eddie Gale, Program Director at the A. D. Henderson Foundation, provided valuable contacts and resources for securing important information contained in this report and provided reviews on several earlier drafts of the report. Cindy Char, of Char Associates, served as senior advisor to the study, providing input on study design and management, protocol development, data collection, analysis, and reporting. Dr. Char also conducted some of the key stakeholder interviews. Laura Houseman, Research Assistant at GRG, provided support during all phases of the study. GOODMAN RESEARCH GROUP, INC. March 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary......................................................................................... i Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 Methods .......................................................................................................... 2 Early Care and Education Stakeholder Interviews..................................... 2 Review of Research.................................................................................... 2 Vermont Geographic Areas........................................................................ 4 Early Care and Education Demand and Supply.............................................. 5 Early Care and Education Demand ............................................................ 5 Child Population .................................................................................... 6 Family Composition and Work Status ................................................... 7 Care Utilization and Preferences............................................................ 9 Early Care and Education Supply............................................................... 9 Types of Early Care and Education Programs ....................................... 9 Early Care and Education Capacity ..................................................... 13 Paying for Child Care............................................................................... 15 Early Care and Education Rates........................................................... 15 Child Care Costs and Family Income .................................................. 16 Families with Low Incomes and Child Care Subsidies............................ 18 Early Childhood Spending in Vermont......................................................... 20 Early Childhood Programs in Vermont ........................................................ 23 Universal Early Childhood Programs....................................................... 23 Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention ........................................ 23 Vermont Children’s Trust Fund........................................................... 24 Parent Child Centers ............................................................................ 25 Resource and Referral.......................................................................... 26 Success by Six...................................................................................... 27 Targeted Early Childhood Programs........................................................ 28 Accommodation Grants ....................................................................... 28 Children’s Integrated Services ............................................................. 28 The Vermont Department for Children and Families Child Care Subsidy................................................................................................. 29 Head Start/Early Head Start................................................................. 29 The Early Education Initiative Program (EEI)..................................... 29 Essential Early Education (EEE) ......................................................... 30 Even Start.............................................................................................30 Quality Enhancement Grants for Infant & Toddler Child Care ........... 30 Supported Child Care Grants ............................................................... 31 WIC...................................................................................................... 31 Vermont Infant and Toddler Initiatives ........................................................ 31 Children’s Integrated Services ................................................................. 31 Early Learning Standards ......................................................................... 31 Child Care Subsidy Reserved Space Agreement...................................... 32 GOODMAN RESEARCH GROUP, INC. March 2009 Vermont Publicly Funded Prekindergarten .................................................. 33 The Quality of Early Care and Education in Vermont.................................. 34 The Structural Quality of Care in Vermont.............................................. 35 The Process Quality of Care in Vermont ................................................. 36 Program Accreditation ............................................................................. 36 Step Ahead Recognition System (STARS).......................................... 37 ECE Professional Development in Vermont ................................................ 39 ECE Workforce........................................................................................ 39 Number of ECE Providers ................................................................... 40 Salary and Benefits .............................................................................. 40 Child Care Provider and Center Budgets ................................................. 42 Educational Requirements and Attainment.......................................... 42 ECE Professional Development System .................................................. 44 Core Competencies .............................................................................. 45 Professional Development Planning .................................................... 46 Career Ladder....................................................................................... 47 Retrieved from http://northernlights.vsc.edu/career_ladder.html............. 47 Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs...................................... 48 Bennington College.............................................................................. 49 Champlain College............................................................................... 49 Community College of Vermont (CCV).............................................. 49 Goddard College .................................................................................. 49 Lyndon State College........................................................................... 50 Union Institute and University............................................................. 50 University of Vermont (UVM) ............................................................ 50 Professional Development Credentials and Related Programs ................ 51 Early Childhood Education/Early Childhood Special Educator and Early Childhood Education Licenses................................................... 51 Child Development Associate Credential (CDA) ................................ 52 The Vermont Early Childhood and Afterschool Program Director Credential.............................................................................................53 Child Care Certificate .......................................................................... 54 The Vermont Child Care Apprenticeship Program.............................. 54 The Vermont Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (VACCRRA)............................................................................................ 55 Professional Development Activities ....................................................... 57 BUILDNG BLOCKS FOR LITERACY® .......................................... 58 Mother Goose Programs ...................................................................... 58 Never Too Early................................................................................... 62 Start with the Arts ................................................................................ 65 Foundations for Early Learning ........................................................... 66 Barriers to Participation in Professional Development ............................ 67 Priority Roles of Investment by Charitable Foundations in ECE................. 69 Profile of the Funders and Considerations for the Collaboration............. 69 Strategic Objectives and Recommendations ............................................ 70 Appendices ................................................................................................... 79 GOODMAN RESEARCH GROUP, INC. March 2009 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY An informal affiliation of charitable foundations in Vermont, led by the A.D. Henderson Foundation and the Permanent Fund for the Well-being of Vermont’s Children, commissioned a first-of-its-kind study of early care and education
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