SAC Needs
Assessment
Background
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A goal of the Massachusetts State
Advisory Council on Early Childhood
Education and Care (SAC)
 Identify the needs of young children
birth to age eight,
 assess the “quality and availability of
early childhood education and
development programs and services
for children from birth to school
entry.”
Purpose of Needs Assessment
To inform the Board of Early Education
and Care and EEC of the resources that
will best serve families and communities
in supporting the holistic development of
children and youth families.
 To build our knowledge and
understanding of critical issues facing
families.
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Where are we now?
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EEC has contracted with Wellesley
College Center for Women to develop a
statewide needs assessment.
 The researchers have been meeting
with the Planning and Evaluation
Committee monthly.
 The researchers have developed
research questions, a logic model,
sampling plans and two types of
surveys, one for the early education
and care workforce and one for
families.
Research Questions for Families and
Educators
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Family Research Questions
 What is the demand for resources to support child
development for families with children ages 0 to 13?
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Which children and families have access to the programs
that they need including high quality EEC programs,
health care and community resources and supports?
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Are children, birth to age 13, on track to succeed when
they enter school and beyond?
Educator Research Questions
 How prepared is the EEC workforce to provide effective
education and care for all? How stable is the workforce?
What supports are available to educators to become
more reflective practitioners?
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How does the workforce define and understand quality in
EEC programs?
Surveys
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The researchers developed a long and short
version of the Family and Educator survey. The 2
versions can be used together or independently
of one another. For example:
Short form can be used with a general sample and long
form for the oversample or supplemental sample
 Long form can be used with general sample and short
form for oversample or supplemental sample.
 Short or long form can be used only with a general
sample.
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Survey questions were compiled from existing
national surveys.
Additional data sources include EEC
Administrative data such as the Educator
Registry.
Family Survey Questions
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Family survey questions were compiled
from 14 existing surveys.
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National Study of Child Care Supply and Demand,
National Early Head Start Study,
Abt National Study of Child Care for Low Income,
National Household Education Surveys (NHES),
Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (HS FACES),
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Study
of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD),
Strengthening Families
Minnesota Household Survey
FastTrack Project
Census Survey of Income and Program Participation Child Well
Being, (Census SIPP).
National Health Interview Survey
MA Early Education Household Survey
Boston Public School Needs Assessment
Desired Results for Children and Families- Parent Survey
(California DOE)
Educator Survey Questions
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Educator survey questions were
compiled from 12 existing surveys.
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National Early Head Start Study,
Abt National Study of Child Care for Low Income,
National Household Education Surveys (NHES),
Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (HS FACES),
Boston Ready: K1 teacher survey
Strategies for Children
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Study
of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD SECCYD),
Massachusetts Cost and Quality Study
National Study of Child Care Supply and Demand (NORC
NSCCSD),
New Teacher Support, Teaching, Empowering, Leading and
Learning Survey (TELL Maryland)
Teacher Reflective Attitude Survey
National Prekindergarten Study Questionnaire (NPSQ)
Sampling Recommendations
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Family Statewide Sample: Random digit dialing
and/or online and paper surveys
• Random sample of families with or without
oversampling of low income families.
• Convenience sample from CFCE outreach.
• Survey of all families served through
CFCE’s.
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Educator Statewide Sample: Online and paper
surveys.
• Random sample of educators
• All registered educators in the EEC
Registry
• Can include optional oversample of kith
and kin providers
Determining what’s useful for Policy
and Planning?
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To help EEC determine which themes from
the Needs Assessment surveys would be
most useful for policy and planning, EEC
asked various groups (EEC staff, CCR&Rs,
CFCE grantees, Board Members and the
Advisory Council) to complete a short
questionnaire.
Respondents were asked to rank the
themes by what would be most useful for
policy and planning with the middle ranking
being neutral.
162 people responded to the questionnaire.
EEC Family Questionnaire Results
and Board Committee Discussions
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The following themes were considered most useful for
policy and planning.
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Work flexibility/needs
Parent/Guardian Definition of child care quality
Strengthening Families/Protective factors
Child Health/Health Care Special Needs
Early Education and Care use
Information/Knowledge of child care resources
School attendance/Adjustment
Relative Neighborhood
Housing
Community Resources
Home Activities/Family Involvement outside of school
Demographics
Future Education
Family Stresses
Quality of care received
Child Care Satisfaction
Linking the Family Survey Questions
to risks in the Developmental
Domains
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Though the Needs Assessment looks at all
children and families, the needs assessment also
links to child development risk.
Of those the questionnaire determined would be
most useful, some are linked to the 5
developmental domains.
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Work flexibility/needs
Parent/Guardian Definition of child care quality
Strengthening Families/Protective factors (social
emotional)
Child Health/Health Care Special Needs (cognitive,
physical, approaches to learning, language)
Early Education and Care use
Information/Knowledge of child care resources
School attendance/Adjustment (cognitive, social
emotional)
Linking the Family Survey with
Child Development Risk
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Relative Neighborhood (social emotional)
Housing
Community Resources (physical, social
emotional)
Home Activities/Family Involvement outside
of school
Demographics
Future Education (cognitive and social
emotional)
Family Stresses (cognitive, social emotional)
Quality of care received (cognitive, physical,
approaches to learning, social emotional)
Child Care Satisfaction
How can the most useful Family
themes be used.
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EEC Family Questionnaire Results
and Board Committee Discussions
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The following themes were considered
not as useful. Themes were considered
less useful for a variety of reasoning
including gathering the data from
existing administrative data sources.
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Family Health
Family Mental Health
Parent/Guardian Health
Family Involvement/Educational Information
Family Resources/Income Supports
Subsidy
Parenting strategies
EEC Workforce Questionnaire
Results and Board Committee
Discussions
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The following themes were considered most
useful in policy and planning.
 Workforce training
 Workforce understanding of quality
 Workforce and ELL and Special Needs children
 Workforce in the field
 Workforce leaving the field
 Workforce Demographics
 Workforce needs for supports for children and
their families
 Workforce and child expulsion
How can the most useful Workforce
themes be used.
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EEC Workforce Questionnaire
Results and Board Committee
Discussions
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The following themes were considered
not as useful. Themes were considered
less useful for a variety of reasoning
including gathering the data from
existing administrative data sources.
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Workforce program benefits
Workforce job description position, program,
hours and salary
Workforce interaction with families and
attitudes towards family involvement.
Workforce communication with families.
Feedback from State Advisory
Council
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Research Questions
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Questions are broad and may need to be more
focused before implementation. Possible areas to
focus on include strengthening families protective
factors, housing and school attendance.
Struggle to get the right information. There is so
much information EEC would like to know.
Sampling Recommendations
Random Digit Dialing is difficult as many families
no longer have telephone landlines
 Face to face interviews would be better, otherwise
might not get accurate answers.
 Incentives- to get quantity of responses but need
to be aware of creating bias.
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Next Steps
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Needs Assessment model and sampling
plan presented to Board on June 14.
RFR drafted and posted.
Educator survey proposed implementation
during FY12 1st quarter.