Page 82 - Gateways for Early Educators

Gateways for Early Educators
in LACOCC-RTT. This program year was a transition year as Los Angeles worked to align the two RTT systems in the county. It is possible some of that transition influenced participants’ ratings.
Nevertheless, for both group, the lowest rated item was with assistance in finding professionals like the participant, which had also been the lowest rated item in the last two program years. The importance of this is evident in research on communities of practice and was a theme throughout the 2014 INQUIRE Conference for QRIS contractors and researchers throughout the nation. Research has shown that providers often feel isolated in their own homes, working long hours. Family Child Care Providers report connections with family, friends, and their immediate communitiesxlviii few report connections to professional networks or support groups.xlix However, when providers are connected to a network of support and access community resources this is related to higher quality care.l li In assessing these communities of practice or networks of support it was found that the following elements are important but not linked to quality: licensing or health and safety monitoring, referrals to trainings, peer mentoring, material resources (lending libraries, free equipment), and business services but the following were important elements of quality: on-site training at the network, visits focused on working with children and families, and network-provider communication (meetings, phone consultation, and feedback).lii These findings mirror those of last year and therefore it is again recommended that program leadership discuss ways of helping participants find groups of ECE professionals.
Similar to prior program years, time was the most frequently cited barriers early childhood educators faced in achieving their goals and engaging in professional development. Preliminary, not yet published research findings from family child care providers in two federally funded research projects (Los Angeles and Delaware) show that these early childhood educators often don’t participate in a QRIS because of their limited time. Other preliminary research reported at the 2014 INQUIRE conference also found that some do not enroll in quality improvement activities because the systems are so convoluted with multiple overlapping programs that have different requirements and participants receive conflicting feedback. Because of a lack of time and the complexity of various programs (Family Child Care Home Education Network funded by CDE, STEP, LAUP, Head Start, Vistas, ASPIRE, Child and Adult Care Food Program, etc.), the relationship between number of programs participants engage in and knowledge and practice outcomes was explored. No relationship was found which may be reflective of the fact that some ECE professionals seek out more complexity (more programs) while others do not. Therefore number of programs may be a reflection of personal preference. How different programs work together (or not) to improve quality should be a topic for further exploration, but is outside the scope of this project.
Given the interest in obtaining future funding for the Gateways program and the continuation of coaching through QRIS and IMPACT, it is suggested that there be an increased focus on program specification. For example, there is a lot of variability in how the program is implemented across agencies. Local control is often a positive consideration. However, it is often coupled with standards. For example, standards could be developed such as 90% of
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