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Gap in California Services
October 21, 2008
Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.
-Mary Lou Cook
-Mary Lou Cook
The researchers surveyed 2,000 California parents of 3- and 4-year-olds, interviewed more than 700 state providers, and observed 250 child care and preschool centers. They found that just under half of 3- and 4-year-olds in economically disadvantaged families are in preschool programs of any quality, compared to 70 percent of children whose families are better off. In all, an estimated 59 percent of preschool-age children in California are getting public or private early care and education.
The study also found that parental education played a role: 45 percent of children whose mothers didn't finish high school were enrolled in preschools. Meanwhile there was an 80 percent enrollment for children whose mothers have a graduate or professional degree. Access was also found to be an issue for black, Hispanic, and low-income parents, who reported the most difficulty finding the care they wanted.
Now you can earn CEUs from the University of Wisconsin-Stout for reading Exchange articles. To earn a Continuing Education Unit, you purchase the module of your choice from the Exchange web site, download it, read the 8 to 10 classic Exchange articles, and then go to the University's web site to take an online test to earn your CEU. CEU modules available from Exchange include:
Curriculum Focused:
- Outdoor Play Environments
- Food and Nutrition Challenges
- Literacy in the Early Years
- Serving Children with Special Needs
- Managing Challenging Behaviors
- Math in the Early Years
- Brain Research Implications for Early Childhood
- Involving Parents in Your Program
- Observation and Assessment
- Reggio Emilia Learning Experiences
- Making Play Work
- Social and Emotional Development
Management Focused
- Leadership in Early Childhood
- Supervising Early Childhood Staff
- Training Early Childhood Staff
- Evaluating Early Childhood Programs
- Marketing Child Care Services
- Trends in Early Childhood Education
- Managing Money
- Maintaining a Safe Environment
- Physical Environment and Room Arrangement
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Comments (3)
Displaying All 3 Commentsthe grand child care center
chicago, IL, United States
As a day care center director for two decades, I have met many parents like this article says.
Very often the minorities and immigrants do not know that there is a subsidy or tuition help is available for the low income families. Second thing is that if they are not highly educated than they don't know much about the tuition help and they don't know the importance of quality child care. What they want is that as long as some one watches their child while they are at work. I have seen in many cases, mothers-immigrant mothers reluctant to apply for any grant fearing it might affect in the future -with their immigrant statues or if the parents split- it may go against her records..
United States
My comment is a big loud "DUH". These "results" have been in the literature for the 20+ years I've worked in this field, and for quite some time before that, I'm sure.
Why do studies like this continue to get funded, when the outcomes are already well-known? That funding should be channeled into potential SOLUTIONS.
Neillsville, WI, United States
The last paragraph of this story diffused some of my concern with the interpretation of the statistics, but I still have an issue with how this is portrayed. Is anyone looking at what the just over 50% of children not in "some quality care" are doing? Maybe the family is lower income because the family made a concious decision to have one parent stay home with the children, understanding that the best first teacher a child can have are their parents. I sometimes think we as early care providers/educators feel that we can do a better job than any parent and children need to attend some form of early education. I have several friends that stay home with their children and do an exellent job of preparing their children for school. They have had to make some tough choices about income, and feel it is more important to be home than to work. We need to take a step back and look at more than what our first reaction may be.
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