White Paper #4: Summary and recommendations

This is the fourth and last white paper in the series describing an implementation science evaluation of Utah’s Care About Childcare (CAC) QRIS program. CAC is a voluntary, strengths-based program wherein providers report the quality criteria met by their child care program. CAC is administered by the Utah Office of Child Care (OCC) and the regional CCR&R offices. OCC staff and CCRR directors and staff involved in CAC were interviewed for this white paper series. Their responses are organized according to an implementation science framework. Methods are reported in the first white paper. In this paper we report on CAC’s measures of success as summarized by CCR&R interviewees. We then summarize overall strengths and opportunities for growth noted during the interview

White Paper #2: Structure of Care About Childcare

In this white paper we describe interviewees’ perceptions of the implementation process for Utah’s Care About Childcare (CAC). White paper #1 outlined the research methods used and the components of implementation science that were under investigation. This white paper summarizes interviewees’ observations on the implementation components of source, destination, communication link, feedback loop, and sphere of influence

White Paper #3: Implementation Drivers

This paper summarizes the results from interviews with CCR&R and the Utah Office of Child Care (OCC) about the implementation of Care About Child Care (CAC) relative to implementation drivers. As was discussed in the first white paper, implementation drivers describe groups of behaviors that build and maintain the program. Drivers are split into three categories including competency drivers that support the capability of staff; organization drivers that support the infrastructure necessary to implement a program; and leadership drivers, or characteristics of those who successfully manage the program implementation

Self-Report QRIS: Challenges with Validation

Research Findings. The current study looks at the validity of a voluntary self-report Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) and the characteristics of participating childcare centers. The self-reported quality indicators are compared to external ratings of quality (ECERSR) and correlated with variables such as size of center and number of state subsidy clients. ECERS-R scores were unrelated to capacity but significantly lower for centers with a large percentage of state supported clients. Regarding self-reported quality, centers frequently underreported their quality and what was claimed was not always externally validated, suggesting a self-report QRIS may not be an accurate assessment of quality. Additionally, no significant differences in quality were found between centers participating and those not-participating in the self-report QRIS. Practice or Policy. Self-reported childcare quality was not accurate in this study. Although providers over-reported some quality, they frequently under-reported quality, by claiming fewer indicators than external validators found. When centers are unmotivated to participate in a voluntary, self-report QRIS, when items reported are the easiest to report, and when existing quality indicators are unreported, a self-reported QRIS cannot validly reflect quality. Because providers both over reported and under-reported quality criteria, it is doubtful the system truly incentivizes desired quality changes

Predictors of Early Numeracy: Applied Measures in Two Childcare Contexts

The purpose of the current research was: (1) To assess differences in early numeracy, phonological awareness, receptive language, executive functioning, and working memory for children in two childcare settings (family and center); (2) To determine whether applied measures of phonological awareness and executive functioning could serve as predictors of numeracy performance. Children (N = 89) ranging in age from 39 to 75 months were recruited from state-licensed childcare centers and family childcare homes. Teacher ratings of executive functioning were significantly related to early number skills, phonological awareness, and receptive language, but none of the parent ratings were significantly related to the child scores. The overall model did not differ between center and family childcare children. Phonological awareness was a significant predictor of number skills for both younger and older children. Receptive language skills were the best predictor of early numeracy performance for younger children and the best predictor for older children was phonological working memory measured by a non-words repetition task. These results suggest a connection between children’s numeracy skills and a developmental change from receptive language skills to phonological working memory skills

Women\u27s Leadership Aspirations

Although it is quite easy to identify women leaders, men continue to occupy the vast majority of leadership roles in the world. It has been argued that one of the reasons for this differential is women\u27s aspirations for leadership are less than men\u27s. Women\u27s leadership aspirations are defined in this chapter as girls\u27 and women\u27s longing for and intentional seeking after a future that catalyze their visions, goals, or calling for themselves into reality, whether or not they use the term leadership to describe their aspirations

Preschool Mathematics Performance and Executive Function: Rural-Urban Comparisons Across Time

This longitudinal study, with urban and rural preschool children, examines the relationship between executive function (EF) and mathematics. A panel of direct and indirect measures of EF were used to determine which EF measures were most predictive and a measure of mathematics assessed both numeracy and geometry skill. One hundred eighteen children, ages 39 to 68 months, and their preschool teachers were included, with assessments given twice, about six months apart. EF measures were compared by the amount of variance in mathematics skill each claimed, including the influence of a child’s age, gender, and rural-urban context. Results suggest the child’s age determines if a panel of direct EF measures is a better predictor of numeracy and geometry skills than the use of a single EF measure. Different EF measures were more strongly related to numeracy versus geometry at Time 1 and Time 2. Differences unrelated to income were found between rural and urban children on numeracy skill but not geometry skill. These results are particularly important to state and regional early childhood directors who work across urban and rural areas, legislators and policymakers, teachers and parents

Young Children\u27s Attention to Dyadic Conversation as Modified by Grade, Sex, Sociometric Status, and Conversational Partner

Forty-eight American children, 12 popular and 12 rejected children from Grades 3 and 6, were paired with same-sex friends and nonfriends on an interactive task. Children were videotaped and their interactions judged for the amount and type of attention each child in the dyad gave to each other and the conversation. Main dependent measures included mutual engagements, acknowledgement of the partner, getting the attention of the partner, attention to the conversation, and social impact of the utterances. Both rejected and popular children attended to the conversation and the partner, but rejected children appeared to overattend in several ways. The interactions of rejected children and their matches involved more mutual engagements, conversational initiators, facilitators, terminators, and nonverbal attention-getting devices. Sex and developmental effects were also found