Page 87 - Gateways for Early Educators

Gateways for Early Educators
2016
About the Early Care Professionals
Based on information collected in the evaluations, 82.4% of the participants were working towards a Gateways Passport (34.0% had completed 19 hours or less, while 48.4% had completed 20 hours or more.) See Figure 1. The percentage of participants who had completed 20 or more hours on the Gateways Passport is greater than last year’s, 48.4% compared to 37.5%. Furthermore, the total percent of training participants working to achieve a passport was greater this year than last year (82.4% vs. 75.7%). The rise in number of participants working to achieve a passport may be due to a number of factors, including: more trainings are offered by each agency, there is more peer validation of the program, a relationship has been built between the participants and the trainers. As participants continue to attend Gateways trainings it is possible that this program has become more appealing as it has grown in popularity over the last 4 years.
Figure 1. Number of Hours Participants Have Completed on the Gateways Passport
3.3% 14.4%
48.4%
Not Completing a Passport
0-19 Hours 34.0% Completed
20 or More Hours Completed
No Response
Of the participants who took part in the trainings evaluated 43.8% are Family Child Care Providers. This percent is slightly greater than last year’s 40.6%. About thirty percent (35.3%) of the participants are Center Based Providers, 4.6 % are License Exempt Providers, and 5.2% identified as other type of provider. See Figure 2. This distribution is very similar to last year’s where Family Child Care professionals made up the biggest group of early care and education professionals attending Gateways trainings, followed by Center-based and License-Exempt providers.
A majority (85.6%) of the early care and education professionals who participated in the trainings serve children ages 0 to 5 years old. Specifically 56.9% serve children under 3 years old, 66.7% serve children 3 to 5 years old, and 29.4% serve children ages 6 years and older. A total of 26.1% of the early care and education professionals who completed an evaluation form serve all three age groups of children. See Table 2.
Figure 2. Types of Early Care and Education Professional Attending the Trainings
4.6%
5.2% 11.1%
43.8%
35.3%
Center Based Family Child Care License- Exempt Not Specified Other
Table 2. Age of the Children Gateways Participants Serve*
Number of Providers
Children 0-5 Years Old
131 (85.6%)
Specifically,
 Children Under 3 Years Old
87 (56.9%)
 Children 3 to 5 Years Old
102 (66.7%)
 Children 6 Years or Older
45(29.4%)
All 3 Age Groups
40 (26.1%)
Unknown
18 (11.8%)
*Note: The total percentage does not equal 100% because the categories are not mutually exclusive. Percentages are based on the number of participants who responded completed an evaluation form (N=153).
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