Education

Quality pre-school for low-income families: A story 25 years in the making.

Posted on by Ryan Patrick Smith

In their September issue, Real Simple magazine highlights the story of Barbara Mason’s 25 year journey helping thousands of children living in poverty and the one board member, Dagobert Soergel, who has been with her from the start.

In fact, Soergel, a University of Maryland professor, not only has been a board member from day one, he also wrote the newspaper ad that Mason answered nearly 25 years ago that offered a chance to make a difference in the life of a child.

The piece features a conversation between Mason and Soergel that illuminates the pivotal role Soergel played behind the scenes in helping The Child and Family Network Centers (CFNC), a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation, develop into a nationally accredited organization that now provides nearly 200 children from low-income families with free preschool every year.

At one point during the interview, Soergel reveals a secret: “In CFNC’s second year, there was a workshop through High/Scope, an educational research foundation renowned for its preschool approach. I knew Barbara wanted to go, but CFNC didn’t have the money. I found an organization to pay for half. And Barbara doesn’t know this, but I contributed the other half.”

The article appears on page 90 of the September issue of Real Simple, which just hit newsstands.  Or you can see it online here.

Ryan Patrick Smith is manager of grants and major gifts at The Child and Family Network Centers, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.

Scully helps girls to believe. In themselves.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

I saw the new X-Files movie, I Want to Believe, this weekend.  That’s what diehard fans do. 

Because we’ve been waiting a long, long time.

I love the X-Files for many reasons.  It’s smart. It’s funny.  There is mystery.  It involves the F.B.I.  And it stars David Duchovney.

But, it also stars Gillian Anderson, who plays one of the best female sci-fi characters ever invented.  And possibly, the best. 

She is smart.  She sticks by her principles and ideals, and doesn’t get swayed by the madness around her, even when her very good looking partner tries everything possible to get her to change her mind. 

And best of all, she’s a geek.  I mean, a real geek.  She’s a doctor.  And more prone to be wearing a lab coat than heels, and far more concerned with scientific integrity than getting her hair just right.

Yes, she is a geek in the coolest sense of the word.

Feministing perhaps says it best, with their Ode to Scully. 

And what better timing for her to make a comeback, as we’re learning that, in fact, girls aren’t science and math shy.  They’re hanging right up there with the boys, says the journal Science. 

An article on the research in the Washington Post describes how common misperceptions have led girls and their parents to expect less from them in these fields.  Such as Barbie exclaiming, "Math class is tough!"  The article concludes with a description of Barbie, saying, "So far, while her current career choices include baby doctor and veterinarian and Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, too, Barbie has not branched out into technology or engineering."

Lucky for us, Scully has. 

Helping us believe that girls can do and be anything they want.  A truth that isn’t so out there, after all.

Stepping Stones Research Update: May 2008

Posted on by Liza Getsinger

As part of our ongoing commitment–in partnership with The Urban Institute–to providing information and resources related to the goals of Stepping Stones, please find below summary of recent research on issues of economic security and financial independence for women and their families.

This research is summarized and compiled for The Women’s Foundation by Liza Getsinger of The Urban Institute, NeighborhoodInfo DC.

Financial Education and Wealth Creation News

The Cost of Maintaining Ownership in the Current Crisis: Comparisons in Twenty Cities
By Dean Baker, Danilo Pelletiere and Hye Jin Rho
Center for Economic and Policy Research
April 2008

The collapse of the bubble in the U.S. housing market is creating chaos in financial markets, while throwing the economy into a recession. It is also threatening millions of homeowners and renters with the loss of their homes. This paper compares ownership and rental costs in twenty major metropolitan areas.

Key Findings:

  • In many markets, homeownership costs are in line with rental costs. In these areas, it is practical and desirable to focus on policies that keep homeowners in their homes.
  • Prices are now falling rapidly in many of these markets; homeowners are unlikely to accumulate equity. In fact, it is likely that many homeowners will end up selling their homes for less than their outstanding mortgage, even if new mortgages are issued with substantial write-downs from the original mortgage.
  • In bubble-inflated markets, homeownership is not only a costly and risky proposition, but continuing price declines mean that homeowners will not accrue any equity.
  • A policy of ensuring suitable rental options is likely to be more helpful to many current homeowners. This policy can encourage the rapid conversion of vacant and abandoned units to rental properties, as well as policies that facilitate the conversion of ownership units to rental units for the same households.
  • Many of the properties facing foreclosure are already rental properties. In these cases, foreclosures often result in the displacement of the current tenants. Congress should recognize this problem and consider policies that provide greater security to tenants in such situations.

Abstract, introduction and key findings
Full text

Jobs and Business Ownership News

Hometown Prosperity: Increasing Opportunity for DC’s Low-Income Working Families
DC Appleseed and DC Fiscal Policy Institute
January 2008 (Released April 14, 2008)

This report describes working poor families with children in the District and the barriers they face to economic advancement, and lays out essential policy changes that could improve their situation.

Key findings and Policy Recommendations:

  • Nearly one in three working families in the District was poor in 2005.
  • In fact, a higher proportion of working families in the District is poor compared to the proportion of working families in neighboring states or in the nation as a whole.
  • Enhance access to community college educational offerings for its residents by encouraging and developing regional partnerships and/or investing in the creation of a local community college as a branch of or separate from the University of DC.
  • Make a priority of raising wages in women-dominated sectors and moving women into non-traditional careers.
  • Set wage and benefit standards for all economic development programs.
  • Implement paid sick leave for all District workers and consider developing a paid disability/family leave program.
  • Continue to address the affordable housing crisis in the city, and promote housing for low-income families that takes into account access to transportation, jobs, and educational resources.

Abstract, introduction and key findings
Full text

Human Capital and Women’s Business Ownership
By Darrene Hackler, Ellen Harpel, and Heike Mayer
Small Business Administration- Office of Advocacy
April 2008

This article begins to shed light on the relationship between different elements of human capital and self-employment among women.

Key Findings:

  • The study finds that self-employed women have more education and increased their educational attainment at a faster rate compared to other working women.
  • The percentage of self-employed women in managerial occupations consistently exceeded the rate for other working women, and self-employed women participated in different industries than other working women.
  • More self-employed men hold an advanced degree compared to self-employed women over the study period, but the gap narrowed considerably by 2006.
  • Self-employed minorities were slightly more likely than self-employed whites to have a college degree throughout much of the study period.
  • Earnings data show that the self-employed were most likely to be either in the first (lowest) or fourth (highest) quartile.
  • A lower percentage of self-employed women hold managerial occupations than do self-employed men, and there are lower rates of self-employment in industries where there is less overall female participation (such as communications, transportation, wholesale trade, manufacturing, and construction).

Abstract, introduction and key findings
Full text

Child Care and Early Education News

Planning for Quality Schools: Meeting the Needs of District Families
By David F. Garrison, Marni D. Allen, Margery Austin Turner, Jennifer Comey, Barika X. Williams, Elizabeth Guernsey, Mary Filardo, Nancy Huvendick, and Ping Sung
Brookings Institution, The Urban Institute, and 21st Century School Fund
April 24, 2008

This report is the first phase of a three-part project to help the District of Columbia create a firm analytical basis for planning for quality schools to meet the needs of the city’s families.

Key Findings:

  • The District’s population has increased since 2000; the total number of school-age children has declined slightly. Conditions in both the housing market and the public school system contribute to this trend.
  • The District’s population is becoming increasingly diverse, with rising numbers of whites and Hispanics and a declining share of blacks. Still, the District remains highly segregated along both racial and income lines. The populations of Wards 7 and 8 are over 90 percent black, while nearly all of the city’s white residents live in Wards 2 and 3. And in 2006, median household income for the city’s white residents was $92,000, almost three times as high as the $34,000 median household income of the city’s blacks.
  • Almost half of all white public school students live in Ward 3, and almost none live East of the River. In contrast, more than half of all black public school students live East of the River, while Hispanic students are heavily concentrated in Wards 1 and 4.
  • There are 234 public schools and distinct public school programs in the District serving pre-school students through adults without high school diplomas, a significant expansion of supply since 1997.
  • In 2006-07, 72, 378 students were enrolled in DCPS and public charter schools, close to the same number as the previous year, but substantially lower than a decade earlier. Since 1997-98, the number of students attending DCPS schools has dropped by almost one-third, while public charter enrollment has grown by over 400 percent.
  • In 2006-07, there were 10,857 public special education students in the District, just over 15 percent of all public school students. This is on the high end compared to other high-poverty urban school districts. Special education students, like the general student population, are concentrated East of the River, and a disproportionate share of black public school students are classified as special education students (compared to white and Hispanic public school students).

Abstract, introduction and key findings
Full text

The Impact of the Mortgage Crisis on Children and Their Education
By Julia B. Isaacs and Phillip Lovell
Brookings Institution
April 2008

By examining past research, this article examines the potential impacts of these foreclosures on children are their education, behavior and health.

Key Findings:

  • Research shows that children who experience excessive mobility, such as those impacted by the mortgage crisis, will suffer in school.
  • The National Assessment of Educational Progress (known as the Nation’s Report Card) has found that students with two or more school changes in the previous year are half as likely to be proficient in reading as their stable peers.
  • One study found that frequent movers were 77 percent more likely than children who have not moved to have four or more behavior problems.
  • One study found that working families spending more than half of their income on housing have less money available than other families to spend on such crucial items as health care and health insurance
  • The mortgage crisis is more than a blow to our economy. It is crippling our children, their education, and as a result, the nation’s future. And while our government is working to alleviate the financial damage caused by this calamity, the impact on the nation’s children is going unnoticed. As economists focus on solving the problem, policy-makers must make an effort to mitigate the damage of this disaster on our young people.

Abstract, introduction and key findings
Full text 

Health and Safety News

Medicaid, SCHIP and Economic Downturn: Policy Challenges and Policy Responses
Kaiser Family Foundation
April, 28 2008

Examines the implications of a downturn for health coverage and state programs and projects the impact of one percentage point rise in the national unemployment rate on Medicaid and SCHIP and the number of uninsured individuals.

Key Findings:

  • Economic Downturns Increase Medicaid Enrollment and Spending – This analysis shows that a 1 percentage point rise in the national unemployment rate would increase Medicaid and SCHIP enrollment by 1 million (600,000 children and 400,000 non-elderly adults) and cause the number of uninsured to grow by 1.1 million.
  • Economic Downturns Reduce State Revenues – Medicaid and SCHIP are also affected by state revenue declines. Recent Urban Institute research shows that a 1 percentage point increase in the unemployment rate causes state General Fund revenue to drop by 3 to 4 percent below expected levels. 
  • State Policy Responses Can Worsen Cyclical Downturns – Unlike the federal government, almost all states are legally required to balance their budgets. To meet this requirement in times of economic stress, states may take such steps as tapping reserves, borrowing from trust funds, securitizing future revenue streams, delaying spending from one fiscal year to the next, etc.
  • Congress May Consider Options to Better Target Federal Relief – As states enter a new economic downturn, policymakers could consider three basic options for fiscal relief. One approach would, like JGTRRA, provide a uniform increase in Medicaid matching rates to all states, for a specified time. 
  • Federal Fiscal Relief Can Prevent Medicaid Cuts During Economic Downturns – As a new economic downturn unfolds, many states appear headed for serious budget shortfalls. The federal government does not have balanced budget requirements, so it has the flexibility to target supplemental funds to states during an economic downturn, preventing harmful and ill-timed cuts in health coverage.

Abstract, introduction and key findings
Full text

Other News and Research

Women in the Wake of the Storm: Examining the Post-Katrina Realities of the Women of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast
By Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
April 2008

This report tells the stories of women post-Katrina and, in so doing, provides an analysis of women’s increased vulnerability during times of disaster, and discusses how the experiences of women affected by Katrina align with the experiences of women around the world who have experienced other large-scale crises. It also provides a race/class/gendered analysis of women’s post-Katrina experiences, with a special emphasis on what they are doing now to rebuild their lives, reconstruct their homes, restore their families, and reclaim their communities.  It tells the story of Katrina from the eyes of the women who lived through it.

Key findings:

  • Most of those with whom the author spoke with seemed relieved that other people wanted to know what they had been through, how they had survived, and what they were doing now to keep on keeping on. Nearly every woman bemoaned the fact that their voices had not been heard and as a result, their stories have been left untold.
  • In conversations with women in and around New Orleans, three primary issues remained at the forefront of their concerns: housing, healthcare, and economic well-being. Each of these issues had multiple and often interlocking reverberations on their lives. All of those with whom we spoke expressed a deep commitment to their communities and desire to face any remaining challenges; however, our contacts’ health, sense of security, and for some even that small but persistent kernel of sustaining hope all have been jeopardized by the slow pace of recovery and the prolonged lack of normalcy.

Policy Recommendations:

  • Make affordable housing a top priority. The safety of women and girls remain in jeopardy with each day that severe housing shortages go unaddressed.
  • Incorporate women in the rebuilding economy through non-traditional training and enforcement of anti-discrimination laws. Women by and large have been shut out of the most lucrative aspects of the rebuilding economy and have suffered as a result.
  • Increase the availability and quality of child care and schools. As the population of the region continues to expand, so does the need for child care and educational institutions.
  • Address both physical and mental health care needs, especially among the most needy. Health care post-Katrina, for many, has become yet another disaster.

Full text

Stepping Stones Research Update: January 2008

Posted on by Kerstin Gentsch

As part of our ongoing commitment–in partnership with The Urban Institute–to providing information and resources related to the goals of Stepping Stones, please find below summary of recent research on issues of economic security and financial independence for women and their families.

This research is summarized and compiled for The Women’s Foundation by Kerstin Gentsch of The Urban Institute, NeighborhoodInfo DC.

Financial Education and Wealth Creation News

The Effects of Welfare and IDA Program Rules on the Asset Holdings of Low-Income Families
By Signe-Mary McKernan, Caroline Ratcliffe, Yunju Nam
Urban Institute
September 2007

Examines the effects of a comprehensive set of 13 welfare, Food Stamp, individual development account (IDA), earned income tax credit (EITC), and minimum wage program rules on the asset holdings of low-education single mothers and families.  This report finds empirical evidence that more lenient asset limits in means-tested programs and more generous IDA program rules may have positive effects on asset holdings of low-education single mothers and families.

Main Findings:

  • More generous unrestricted asset limits are not associated with increased liquid asset holdings for either low-education single mothers or families.
  • More generous restricted account asset limits are associated with increased liquid asset holdings for low-education single mothers and families.
  • More generous Food Stamp vehicle asset limits are associated with increased vehicle asset holdings for low-education single mothers.
  • Expanded categorical eligibility in the Food Stamp Program is associated with increased vehicle asset holdings for low-education single mothers and families.
  • More generous IDA program rules are associated with increased liquid asset holdings and net worth.
  • A more generous state EITC amount is negatively associated with liquid asset holdings but the percentage of the state EITC that is refundable is positively associated with liquid asset holdings.
  • A more generous state minimum wage for federally covered categories (i.e., covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act) is associated with increased liquid asset holdings, vehicle asset holdings, and net worth.

Abstract and introduction.
Full paper. 

Assessing Asset Data on Low-Income Households: Current Availability and Options for Improvement
By Caroline Ratcliffe, Henry Chen, Trina R. Williams-Shanks, Yunju Nam, Mark Schreiner, Min Zhan, Michael Sherraden
Urban Institute
September 2007

Identifies the most reliable and informative data sources for understanding low-income households’ assets and liabilities, details their limitations, and provides options for improving asset data sources and collection methods.
The four evaluation criteria—relevancy, representativeness, recurrence, and richness of correlates—serve as a framework for assessing how effectively various data sets can provide an understanding of low-income households’ assets and liabilities.  Of the data sets reviewed, only one receives the highest ranking under all four criteria—the PSID. With these high rankings, the PSID has the potential to provide reliable information on low-income households’ assets and liabilities and is identified as a “primary” data set.

Because our primary research question asks that we identify the most informative and reliable data sources for understanding low-income households’ assets and liabilities, any data set designated a “primary data set” should comprehensively measure assets and liabilities (relevance criterion) and be representative of the overall U.S. low-income population (representativeness criterion).

The only other data sets that receive top ratings in these two criteria are the SIPP and SCF. They perform well enough in the other two criteria to also be deemed “primary” data sets.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full report. 

Jobs and Business Ownership News

Low-Income Workers and Their Employers: Characteristics and Challenges
By Gregory Acs and Austin Nichols
Urban Institute
May 2007

Defines and documents the characteristics of low-wage workers and their employers.  This paper finds that about one in four workers, ages 18 to 61, earned less than $7.73 an hour in 2003. Low-wage workers who reside in low-income families with children are substantially less educated than the average worker, are concentrated in industries with low wages, and have limited prospects for wage growth. Many policies aimed at low-wage workers are not well-targeted at workers in low-income families with children, in part because only one in four low-wage workers reside in such families. Nevertheless, policies targeted at low-wage workers may have broad benefits, including improving the lot of low-income families with children.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Place Matters: Employers, Low-Income Workers, and Regional Economic Development
By Nancy M. Pindus, Brett Theodos, G. Thomas Kingsley
Urban Institute
May 2007

Summarizes factors determining locational decisions of businesses and workers, as well as local economic growth, and suggests how employer needs as well as opportunities for low-income workers might be served by successful policies in the areas of housing, transportation, education and workforce development.

In looking at economic development, employer choices, and opportunities for low wage workers through the lens of place, it is clear that the landscape is shifting and policies must adapt accordingly. Spatial mismatch is more than employers and businesses leaving the urban core and poor urban residents lacking transportation to new job centers. Now, some urban centers are revitalizing, the creative class is growing in cities, and some suburbs (especially older suburbs and some outer-ring suburbs) are increasingly diverse and beginning to experience some of the same challenges as cities. And, there is a growing body of evidence that, in a knowledge-based economy, equity and tolerance are good for business. There is a growing consensus that geography of opportunity has changed, and continues to change.

Opportunities for new initiatives:

  • Housing policies that promote “workforce housing” and the deconcentration of poverty by considering the mix of the workforce and matching housing opportunities to that mix.
  • Transportation and other infrastructure funding that supports integration of systems and reduces sprawl by concentrating development near rail and bus hubs (“smart growth”).
  • Aligning workforce and education with economic development by addressing spatial mismatches between training opportunities and where people live and work; improving coordination between employers, workforce development intermediaries, and community colleges; and facilitating cross-firm career mobility within regional labor markets.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Building Skills and Promoting Job Advancement: The Promise of Employer-Focused Strategies
By Karin Martinson
Urban Institute
May 2007

Discusses what we know about employer-focused training, describes three employer-focused training models, and concludes with some key questions to address to assist in moving forward with this type of skill development strategy.  Three types of promising employer-focused job training:

  • Incumbent worker training provided directly at the workplace through employers is a large-scale effort to involve employers in skill building.
  • Sectoral training programs focus on providing training to a cluster of employers in one segment of the labor market.
  • Career ladders: A subset of sectoral initiatives focuses on developing career pathways that lead to higher-paying jobs.

Main challenges:

  • Many sectoral and career ladder initiatives require the involvement of multiple systems, including workforce development, community colleges, the business community, unions, and community groups. It can be difficult to gain the cooperation of all parties needed to enact the type of major changes required by many initiatives.
  • Many employer-focused training programs require substantial resources to plan and implement effective initiatives.
  • While strides forward have been made, it is a continuing challenge to develop training options that effectively reach low-income workers.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Meeting Responsibilities at Work and Home: Public and Private Supports
By Pamela Winston
Urban Institute
May 2007

Summarizes what we know about families’ access to supports, employers’ experiences, and public and employer efforts to expand them.

Paid parental/family leave:
Time for parents and infants to bond is vital to children’s positive development, and long hours in out-of-home care in early infancy pose risks for children’s development, especially in the low-quality settings to which low-income families often have access. The United States is one of only 5 of 173 nations surveyed for a global index that does not have public policies to provide paid time off for parents to care for and bond with a new infant. Further, while some employers and states provide paid parental leave, low-wage workers are least likely to have access to it.

Paid sick leave/paid time off:
Paid time off that can be used for workers’ short-term illnesses or those of their children, routine medical care, involvement in children’s school meetings or activities, or for other family or personal needs can play an important role in fostering family well-being. Almost half (48 percent) of American private-sector workers are estimated to lack any paid sick leave, amounting to over 54 million employees.

Workplace flexibility:
Flexibility for employees to change start or end times, take time out during work hours for emergencies, request shift changes or exemption from mandatory overtime, or otherwise adjust work hours for family obligations can also help parents fulfill their responsibilities to their employers and their families. 57 percent of workers indicated in 2002 they did not have access to traditional flextime.

Child care:
Access to affordable, consistent, and adequate-quality child care available during work hours can make an important difference to parents’ productivity and reliability on the job, and to children’s well-being. As a rule, the child care market does not provide a sufficient supply of affordable adequate-quality care, which can create particular challenges for low-income families. Public programs can provide financial and other support to many low-income families with low-wage workers, but typically many eligible people do not participate in them.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Maternity Leave in the United States: Paid Parental Leave is still not Standard, even among the Best U.S. Employers
By Vicky Lovell, Elizabeth O’Neill, Skylar Olsen
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
August 2007

Analyzes parental leave policies of Working Mother100 Best Companies.

  • Nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of the best employers for working mothers provide four or fewer weeks of paid maternity leave, and half (52 percent) provide six weeks or less.
  • Nearly half of the best companies fail to provide any paid leave for paternity or adoption.
  • While more than one-quarter of companies (28 percent) provide nine or more weeks of paid maternity leave, many of the winners’ paid parental leave policies fall far short of families’ needs.
  • No company provides more than six weeks of paid paternity leave and only 7 of the 100 best companies provide seven weeks or more of paid adoptive leave.

Press release.
Fact sheet. 

Implementation and Sustainability: Emerging Lessons from the Early High Growth Job Training Initiative (HGJTI) Grants
By John Trutko, Carolyn T. O’Brien, Pamela A. Holcomb, and Demetra Smith Nightingale
Urban Institute
April 2007

Summarizes lessons from the early grantees of a major national effort to encourage the development of market-driven strategies addressing business and industry’s workforce challenges.

The discussions revealed insight into four general, interrelated, implementation issues:

1. Establishing and maintaining partnerships

  • Bringing the right partnerships together is critical to success.
  • Successful collaboration requires regular discussions and agreement regarding respective roles and responsibilities of each organization and the specifics of how staff will collaborate and share information.
  • The existence of the HGJTI grants helped partnering organizations to better understand the resources and capabilities of other organizations.
  • Employer partnerships are especially important to ensure that the workforce challenges are accurately defined and the strategies selected meet the current and immediate needs of the sector.
  • Projects operating across large areas, such as in rural locations, face special issues regarding partnerships.

2. Project start-up, development, and design

  • Effective and timely implementation of projects aimed at addressing critical workforce needs depends greatly on recruiting and retaining staff with the necessary occupation-specific skills.
  • Effective training programs should have a strong front-end assessment and recruitment and outreach procedures in place.

3. Targeting and reaching trainees

  • Grantees found that when serving disadvantaged populations and dislocated workers it is important to incorporate supportive services.
  • Recruiting and retaining participants is a major activity for training programs, and a particular challenge when targeting on widely varying populations.
  • At the time grantees were contacted, most had reached or were close to reaching their capacity-building and training goals.

4. Management and meeting federal grant requirements

  • It is important to begin to focus on post-grant sustainability well before grant funds are exhausted.
  • DOL/ETA staff provided various types of technical assistance and guidance to HGJTI grantees, but many needed more federal grants management support.
  • Grantees found that they needed a longer grant performance period.

Abstract and introduction.
Full paper. 

Child Care and Early Education News

Vouchers for Housing and Child Care: Common Challenges and Emerging Strategies
By Margery Austin Turner, Gina Adams, Monica Rohacek, Lauren Eyster
Urban Institute
August 2007

Highlights promising strategies for tackling challenges to housing and child care vouchers’ success.  Vouchers play an important role in federal efforts to help low-income families obtain both housing and child care. These programs constitute essential components of the promise of welfare reform to encourage and support work among low-income families. And both types of vouchers have the potential to enhance long-term outcomes for children.

Although federal housing and child care voucher programs differ in important respects, they also face common challenges. First, the success of both programs in helping families access high-quality services depends upon the supply of these services in the private market and the willingness of providers to accept voucher families. If acceptable rental housing units or child care slots are not available where families need them, vouchers are not effective. In addition, low-income families may face challenges in negotiating the private market, gathering information about available child care or housing options, or identifying providers that meet their needs and offer good quality. Finally, both housing and child care voucher programs have to balance requirements to avoid any overpayment of subsidies (either by serving ineligible families or by miscalculating the appropriate subsidy amount) with a mandate to support work and enhance well-being among low-income families.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Pre-Kindergarten to 3rd Grade (PK-3) School-based Resources and Third Grade Outcome
By Brett V. Brown and Kimber Bogard
ChildTrends
August 2007

Examines multiple PK-3 school based resources that tap into children’s experiences of early elementary grade learn to PK-3 school-based resources by key social groups of children defined by poverty status, parental education, and race/ethnicity.

While the majority of children had access to most positive PK-3 school influences, marked inequalities in access were still found. Unequal access to these school resources were observed by parental education and income level, as well as race and Hispanic origin. The most educationally at risk children (i.e., parents have less than a high school education, family income below the poverty level, Black non-Hispanic children) were the least likely groups of children to access high resource elementary schools. This finding clearly indicates that the quality of elementary schools must be considered when examining questions concerning achievement gaps by income and race/ethnicity.

Our preliminary multi-variate analyses point to some core school variables that predict academic and behavior skills necessary for future success and well-being. Of particular interest are the differential relationships between two clearly defined sets of PK- 3 school-based resources reported in kindergarten, and their relationships to academic and behavior outcomes in third grade. Reading and math scores were consistently predicted by strong principal leadership, high academic standards, and teachers collaboratively developing curricular materials. Teacher turnover, which can be considered indicative of instability within a school, was related to lower rates of self-control and school engagement among third grade children. These findings suggest that there may be PK-3 school-based resources that independently predict academic and behavioral outcomes. Though these results are preliminary, we believe they are the strongest research evidence yet that such factors each have influence over levels of school readiness in young children.

Full paper. 

Health and Safety News

Access to Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance among Low-Income Families: Who Has Access and Who Doesn’t?
By Lisa Clemans-Cope, Genevieve M. Kenney, Matthew Pantell, Cynthia Perry
Urban Institute
September 11, 2007

Examines access to employer-sponsored health insurance among low-income families.

  • In 2003 and 2004, about one in two children in low-income families did not have access to ESI, despite having one or more employed adults in the family.
  • Among low-income working families, families with lower levels of income, families with lower parental education, families where parents work in smaller establishments, and families in which no parent has union representation are all less likely to have access to ESI.
  • Public insurance fills a substantial part of the gap in health insurance coverage left by lack of ESI access for children in low-income working families, but parents without an offer of ESI remain uninsured at high rates. In fact, among families without an ESI offer, children are twice as likely—and parents nearly three times as likely—to be uninsured than families with an offer.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance and the Low-Income Workforce: Limitations of the System and Strategies for Increasing Coverage
By Linda J. Blumberg
Urban Institute
May 2007

Outlines the problems with employer-sponsored insurance from the perspective of employers, specifically those employing low-income workers, and discusses potential strategies for addressing them.  Problems with employer-sponsored insurance from the perspective of employers:

  • When employers competing for the same pool of workers tend to offer health insurance, then the pressure to offer such benefits increases for the other employers in that labor market. Likewise, in markets where ESI is not common, the pressure to offer it is significantly lessened.
  • One of the more controversial and complex issues related to the employer decision to offer insurance is whether the incidence of employer premium contributions falls upon the employer or upon the worker. While the best empirical evidence available indicates that, at least in large part, employer payments are passed back to workers via reduced wages, most employers do not believe this is the case.
  • Firms employing significant numbers of modest-wage workers will not be able to offer health insurance to their workers. This is because low-income workers will tend to prefer employment that provides additional wages as opposed to health insurance benefits to a significantly greater extent than will high-income workers.
  • Another aspect of the price of health insurance to employers is labor turnover. The administrative costs associated with health plan enrollment and disenrollment are higher for employers with high-turnover workforces.

Policy options to address shortcomings of the system:

  • Providing government subsidies for insurance coverage.
  • Requiring all residents to obtain a minimum level of insurance: individual mandates.
  • Requiring employers to participate in the financing of health insurance coverage for their workers: employer mandates.
  • Approaches for controlling health care costs.

Abstract and introduction. 
Full paper. 

Other News and Research

The Feminization of Poverty
by Megan Thibos, Danielle Lavin-Loucks, and Marcus Martin
The J. McDonals Williams Institute
May 2007

Examines the evidence for the feminization of poverty and analyzes the factors that contribute to the phenomenon; provides a portrait of feminized poverty at national and local levels; examines the role of public policy in alleviating women’s poverty and proposes policies that could significantly reduce the magnitude of the feminization of poverty.

Two schools of thought on the reasons for the feminization of poverty:

The feminization of poverty exists because of significant changes in the family structure such that households headed by females are not only a larger proportion of households but also are disproportionately impacted by factors contributing to poverty compared with other types of households.

Structural changes in the economy have caused the displacement of many women into occupational sectors that are gender-specific, low-wage, and low-benefit employment opportunities—such as pinkcollar jobs. Moreover, the shift into a knowledge-based economy has meant that those females with the least educational attainment and the least work skills will be least likely to experience work opportunities that can effectively and permanently move them and their families out of poverty.

Our focus is on three broad public policy areas that can have a positive impact on moving female-headed households out of poverty and into the self-sufficiency:

1) Expanding educational opportunities
2) Livable wages
3) Equitable wages and occupational segregation

Full report.

Thanks and see you next month with more research from the Stepping Stones issue areas!

Trinity develops resource for D.C.'s entrepreneurial women!

Posted on by Roxana Moayedi

As a recent Stepping Stones Grantee Partner (I’m an associate professor at Trinity University in Washington, D.C.), I partnered with students in three of my courses over two semesters to develop, conduct, and analyze two community-based research projects to benefit D.C.-area women.

Trinity University takes seriously its role as a member of our community and one of the ways we work to fulfill our social justice mission is by partnering with other community-based organizations to identify and address our area’s needs.

Our community work takes a number of different forms both on and off campus. Not only do we encourage our students to volunteer, we require students to engage in course-based service projects that benefit our community while reinforcing and extending what they learn in class.

And, unusual for an undergraduate institution, we also provide opportunities for undergraduates to perform hands-on research—something which is usually limited to graduate students at larger universities.  These opportunities not only introduce them to sophisticated and rigorous concepts and methods, but allows them to use their own community as a laboratory and a lens, adding depth, dimension, and a grounding in reality to their college educations.

Our students learn “in the ivory tower” as well as “in the neighborhood.”

Our two community-based research projects had different, yet complimentary, focuses. In one course, my students and I conducted three focus groups bringing together low-income single mothers in the D.C. area to gauge their potential interest in starting their own small businesses.

Our key finding was that these women believed that they would never be able to get ahead as someone else’s employee.  They saw small business ownership as the only way they would ever be able to get ahead financially while balancing the competing (and often conflicting) needs of work and family. We compiled our research findings and analysis into a comprehensive report.

Our research explored both the opportunities and advantages women envisioned when considering self-employment, as well as the obstacles they perceived to be keeping them from making the leap from wage employment to micro entrepreneurship. One of the biggest obstacles our research participants identified was a lack of information about resources out there to help them plan—then actually launch—their businesses (primary need, start-up funding).

This finding neatly segued into our second, parallel research project: an online directory of D.C.-area micro enterprise assistance organizations, a project that we researched and compiled over two semesters.

My students and I developed a research instrument to find out specific information about each organization we studied. We compiled a list of local organizations to survey, and students tenaciously contacted these organizations, surveying them then analyzing survey results to judge whether they met our criteria for inclusion. The Association for Enterprise Opportunity’s member directory served as the foundation for this asset-mapping project.

We were able to build on the information they provided and we eventually identified 25 organizations in the Washington metropolitan area that provided micro loans, business training and technical assistance, and/or other relevant information and assistance that women in our community can use to make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality.

Roxana Moayedi is associate professor of sociology at Trinity University, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.

Dr. Helene Gayle: I'm thrilled to join you at the Leadership Luncheon!

Posted on by Dr. Helene Gayle

Dear Friends of Washington Area Women’s Foundation, 

Thank you for inviting me to join you as a speaker, along with Ambassador Swanee Hunt, at your upcoming Leadership Luncheon. I was honored to be asked to step in for Sheila Johnson because it is always a pleasure for me to share the company of like-minded women and men who understand the benefit and value of investing in women and girls as a means to make our communities healthier, stronger, more vibrant places to live and work.

As president and CEO of CARE, an international humanitarian organization fighting global poverty, and a public health advocate and researcher, I know firsthand that making communities healthier, wealthier and wiser begins with women. That when a woman gains power, she, her husband, her children and her extended family benefit for a lifetime. Women are one of the greatest untapped natural resource in fighting global poverty.

I am very much looking forward to joining your ongoing conversation around how investing in women and girls is an investment in better communities—and to sharing my experience in applying this approach on a global scale.

Sincerely,

Helene D. Gayle MD, MPH
President and Chief Executive Officer
CARE

Don’t miss Dr. Helene Gayle’s conversation with Ambassador Swanee Hunt on October 10, 2007.  Purchase your tickets or sponsorship today!

Thanks to The Women's Foundation for the experience of a lifetime!

Posted on by Sharon Wise

Dear Washington Area Women’s Foundation,

My name is Sharon Wise and I’m one of the students enrolled in the Female Property Management Certificate training at Southeastern University (a Stepping Stones Jobs Fund Grantee Partner).
 
I just wanted to let you know that everything is great!  I love my class and I am learning so much. I am in a communications class and the facilitators are so funny and smart.  I did not know there were so many ways to email, write letters and express oneself.

I thank you all 100 times over for allowing me to have an opportunity to be in this class!  My self esteem has increased because I feel I am part of something. 

I have not missed one class and I am excited on Tuesday, for I know Wednesday is coming. 

We had a quiz yesterday and I know I Aced it!  Hurray!

I want to share my experiences so that you all will know that someone is benefiting and learning.  I love this class!

This is an experience of a lifetime.

I just want to thank you all so much for just doing the work that you all do to make it possible for women like myself to go through this fabulous program, and I just look forward to being one of your success stories.

Sharon Wise is one of thousands of women throughout our region benefiting from the power of giving together. 

Join us for our 2007 Leadership Luncheon to meet some of these women, the Grantee Partners who are serving them and to learn how YOU can become a part of the Washington area’s most powerful wave of women’s philanthropy that is changing lives, and our community, every day.

Stepping Stones Research Update: July 2007

Posted on by Kerstin Gentsch

As part of our ongoing commitment–in partnership with The Urban Institute–to providing information and resources related to the goals of Stepping Stones, please find below summary of recent research on issues of economic security and financial independence for women and their families.

This research is summarized and compiled for The Women’s Foundation by Kerstin Gentsch of The Urban Institute, NeighborhoodInfo DC.

Financial Education and Wealth Creation

Some Thoughts About New and Old Asset-Promotion Policies
By Robert I. Lerman
Urban Institute
June 2007

Provides methodological guidance about how to best view and evaluate policies on helping people build assets.

Despite a plethora of proposals for helping people build assets, policy researchers have provided little methodological guidance about how best to view and evaluate these policies. This paper is an initial attempt to move in this direction, drawing on methods for assessing income-tested and social insurance programs and on analyses of public policies dealing with savings, investments, and risks. It examines whether and in what ways the traditional criteria of incentives, progressivity, and equity apply to an assessment of asset-building policies. Further, it discusses how to design an asset policy to deal with the potential social dislocations arising from gentrification.

For abstract and introduction.  
For full report. 

Eligibility for Child Tax Credit by Age of Child
By Leonard E. Burman and Laura Wheaton
Urban Institute
May 22, 2007

Examines child tax credit eligibility by age of child.

The child tax credit (CTC) is a $1,000 partially refundable federal income tax credit for each qualifying child under age 17. In 2007, tax filers may claim a refundable credit (over and above any tax liability) equal to 15 percent of the excess of earnings over $11,750, up to the $1,000 maximum per child. The earnings threshold means that families with very low incomes get no benefit from the credit, and others will receive only a partial credit. This brief analysis shows that many families with young children tend have lower incomes and are thus left out. In 2007, 30 percent of qualifying children under age 2 in working families had family incomes too low to benefit from the full credit, compared with 27 percent of children overall and 24 percent of children 10 and older.

For abstract and excerpt.  
For full report.   

Jobs and Business Ownership News

Reducing Poverty in Washington, D.C. and Rebuilding the Middle Class from Within
By Martha Ross and Brooke DeRenzis
The Brookings Institution
March 2007

Makes a set of recommendations for a workforce development strategy that will increase the skills, earnings, and employment of at least 10,500 low-income, low-skilled residents over the next seven years.

Washington D.C. has experienced job growth, increases in city revenues, and a development boom over the past several years, but too many residents are excluded from local and regional prosperity. Ensuring the District’s future as a vibrant, inclusive city depends on a commitment to increase the middle class from within. This paper from Brookings Greater Washington makes a set of focused recommendations for a workforce development strategy that will increase the skills, earnings, and employment of at least 10,500 low-income, low-skilled residents over the next seven years.

Workforce development, however, should be seen as part of a broader strategy to move the working poor into the middle class. Even with enhanced education and job placement services, many residents will continue to work in low-wage jobs. Polices and programs that support employment and create financial incentives to work can help residents in low-wage jobs make ends meet.

Additionally, an unstable housing situation can make it difficult to find and keep a job or participate in workforce programs. This paper proposes increasing assistance to alleviate the severe housing shortage experienced by the lowest-wage workers. To help working households stay in the city as their incomes increase, this paper also recommends developing workforce rental housing for middle-income families.

By helping more residents enter and advance in the workforce, the city can begin to steady its fiscal base while blurring economic, racial, and geographic divides.

For summary.  
For full report.  

An Economy that puts families first: Expanding the social contract to include family care
By Heidi Hartmann, Aariane Hegewisch, and Vicky Llovell
Economic Policy Institute
May 24, 2007

Focuses on the policy gaps that must be filled to make U.S. workplaces more family friendly.

A comprehensive family policy program is needed to make the U.S. economy more family friendly and to enable workers to combine work and family responsibilities more easily. Such a program is part of a new social contract that should spread the costs of family care beyond the immediate family and help redistribute the burden of care more equitably between men and women within the family. The comprehensive program laid out throughout this briefing paper is ambitious and complex. Here we offer our priorities for policy making in the United States during the next five to 10 years. We present these priorities using our framework of three types of policies: those that subsidize the cost of care; those that provide income replacement while workers are providing care; and those that lead employers to change their behavior and make the jobs they offer more family friendly. We select these priorities based on need and practicality. In virtually all cases workable models exist. Most are not especially expensive, costing less, for example, than the deductibility of mortgage interest costs on owner-occupied housing in the federal personal income tax system.

For full report.

Framework for a New Safety Net for Low-Income Working Families
By Olivia Golden, Pamela Winston, Gregory Acs, Ajay Chaudry
Urban Institute
June 2007

Conceptualizes a framework for a new safety net for low-income working families that is rooted in their most essential needs.

The report is organized around five key goals:

1. Enabling parents to meet their family’s needs while working in lower-wage jobs.
2. Helping families weather gaps in parental employment.
3. Supporting parents’ job advancement.
4. Helping parents combine work and child-rearing.
5. Improving children’s well-being and development.

The paper describes these families’ circumstances, discusses gaps in current safety-net programs, and explores possible alternative approaches to meeting families’ most pressing needs.

For abstract and introduction.  
For full report. 

Child Care and Early Education News

Making Pre-kindergarten Work for Low-income Working Families
By Rachel Schumacher, Katie Hamm, and Danielle Ewen
Center for Law and Social Policy
June 2007

Based on a review of the first in-depth national research on the 29 states that, as of 2004, allowed mixed delivery in their pre- kindergarten programs. The review focused on promising practices and ideas for improvement.

  • Provides evidence that policymakers need to review their pre-kindergarten initiatives to ensure maximum access for children in working families, especially low income children.
  • Describes some models states and localities are using to be responsive to low-income working families’ needs by delivering pre-kindergarten in community-based settings.
  • Highlights key strategies to address the needs of low income working families and examines the extent to which state pre-kindergarten policies currently do so.

For full report.

Reforming the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
By Jeff Rohaly
Urban Institute
June 11, 2007

Examines the revenue and distributional implications of making the CDCTC fully refundable.

The child and dependent care tax credit (CDCTC) is a nonrefundable tax credit designed to help offset the expenses of providing care for children under the age of 13 or disabled dependents as long as a parent or caretaker is working or searching for work. In theory, a low-income family can qualify for a maximum $2,100 credit. The credit is not refundable, however, and families with low incomes generally owe little or no income tax. Thus, the theoretical maximum rarely applies in practice. This paper examines the revenue and distributional implications of making the CDCTC fully refundable.

For abstract and introduction. 
For full report.   

Early Head Start and Teen Parent Families: Partnerships for Success
Center for Law and Social Policy
June 2007

Examines the special needs of eligible low-income pregnant women and mothers with infants and toddlers, many of whom are teen parent families, and highlights promising Early Head Start programs.

Teen parent families may face increased risks for child abuse and neglect and for disabilities and developmental delays in children. Studies have shown that teen parent participation in EHS programs helps improve child development and parenting behavior and increases economic self-sufficiency and the family’s ability to access support services.

The report highlights the importance of increased collaboration between EHS programs and other systems serving teen parent families, especially child protective services and early intervention programs. EHS can collaborate with the child welfare system to prevent child abuse and neglect by teaching teenage parents appropriate parenting techniques, improving their knowledge of child development, and connecting them to support services. EHS programs can also identify children who may have disabilities and facilitate access to appropriate services.

The full report is based on discussion and findings from a 2-day meeting of EHS providers

For Department of Health & Human Services summary.
For full report.   

Men’s Pregnancy Intentions and Prenatal Behaviors: What They Mean for Fathers’ Involvement With Their Children
By Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew, Allison Horowitz, Elena Kennedy, and Kate Perper
Child Trends
June 2007

Presents information on what men report about their pregnancy intentions and their prenatal involvement, and examines the effects of these intentions and behaviors on men’s involvement with very young children following birth.

We found that although most resident fathers report that they wanted the pregnancy at the time or sooner, one in four reported that he did not want the pregnancy at all.

We also found that both fathers’ pregnancy intentions and their prenatal involvement differ by age and race/ethnicity. For example, teen fathers were the least likely to report that the pregnancy occurred at the right time and were the most likely to report that they had not wanted the pregnancy. Non-Hispanic black fathers and fathers of other ethnicities were more likely to report not wanting the pregnancy than were Hispanic or non-Hispanic white fathers. In addition, teen fathers and Hispanic fathers were less likely to demonstrate specific prenatal behaviors, compared with other fathers.

We also found that an unwanted pregnancy was associated with less warmth towards the infant but that a pregnancy that occurred later than the father wanted it to occur was associated with more nurturing behaviors.

Another important finding was that fathers who were more involved during pregnancy were also more likely to be involved in helping to rear the child in the first year of life. These fathers engaged in a higher level of cognitively stimulating activities with their very young children, showed more warmth and nurturing in their interactions with them, and provided more hands-on physical care.

For full report. 

Other News and Research

What is Evidence-Based Practice?
By Allison J. R. Metz, Rachele Espiritu, and Kristin A. Moore
Child Trends
June 2007

Part 1 in a Series on Fostering the Adoption of Evidence-Based Practices in
Out-Of-School Time Programs.

The lag between discovering effective practices and using them “on the ground” can be unnecessarily long, sometimes taking 15 to 20 years! The purpose of this brief is to provide practitioners with a better understanding of evidence-based practice, and to share resources that can help bridge the research-to practice gap and reduce the lag time between the identification and application of evidence-based practice. Forthcoming briefs in this series will provide additional information on key aspects of adopting evidence-based practices including replication, program fidelity, and specific implementation strategies.

For full brief.    

Stepping Stones Research Update: June 2007

Posted on by Kerstin Gentsch

As part of our ongoing commitment–in partnership with The Urban Institute–to providing information and resources related to the goals of Stepping Stones, please find below summary of recent research on issues of economic security and financial independence for women and their families.

This research is summarized and compiled for The Women’s Foundation by Kerstin Gentsch of The Urban Institute, NeighborhoodInfo DC.

Financial Education and Wealth Creation News

Borrowing to Get Ahead, and Behind: The Credit Boom and Bust in Lower-Income Markets
By Matt Fellowes and Mia Mabanta
The Brookings Institution
May 11, 2007

Examines the nation’s lower-income credit and lending markets.

  • Over 55 percent of lower-income households held debt in 2004, a 10 percent increase since 1989.
  • Usage of credit in lower-income markets varies widely across the country, from a high in Boston (where 75 percent of borrowers in lower-income markets owed money in 2005) to a low in Las Vegas (where less than 40 percent did).
  • Management of credit in lower-income markets also varies widely across the country, from a low in San Jose, where less than 5 percent of borrowers in lower-income markets were behind on debt payments in 2005, to a high in Memphis, where over 18 percent were delinquent on at least one bill.
  • Based on an evaluation of credit scores, potential growth in the supply of credit in lower-income markets is also widely variable across the country, from a low in Memphis and Milwaukee, where the average credit score in lower-income markets was 556 in 2005, to a high in Portland and San Jose, where the average score was over 635.
  • With the expansion of lending in lower-income markets, an entirely new generation of policy implications has emerged, transcending the traditional focus on the supply of credit.

For main findings. 
For full report. 

A Local Ladder for Low-Income Workers: Recent Trends in the Earned Income Tax Credit
By Elizabeth Kneebone
The Brookings Institution
April 2007

Analyzes IRS data on low-income working families who received the federal Earned Income Tax Credit in tax years 2000 and 2004.

  • In tax year 2004, more than one in six taxpayers nationwide received the EITC. Cities in the South, such as Jackson, MS (41 percent) and El Paso, TX (37 percent), had among the highest rates of EITC receipt in the country.
  • By 2004, large metropolitan suburbs were home to 2.4 million more EITC recipients than their cities. While a higher share of central-city taxpayers (22 percent) than suburban taxpayers (13 percent) received the EITC in 2004, the number of suburban EITC recipients expanded by nearly 1.4 million from 2000 to 2004, versus less than half a million in cities.
  • More than 46 percent of EITC filers claimed the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) in tax year 2004, and together the EITC and ACTC accounted for more than 70 percent of refunds paid to these low-income working families. The average EITC credit was $1,834 in 2004, while the average ACTC amount was $895. In total, EITC filers claimed $48.9 billion through the EITC and ACTC in 2004.
  • The proportion of EITC recipients who filed their returns through volunteer tax preparers increased steadily in recent years, but by 2004 remained far lower (under 2 percent) than the share using paid preparers (over 70 percent).

For main findings. 
For full report.  

Jobs and Business Ownership News

The Gender Wage Ratio: Women’s and Men’s Earnings
Institute for Women’s Policy Research
April 2007

Shows that the wage ratio between women and men failed to narrow in 2006 and that an earlier trend toward equal pay has stalled.

  • According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2006 the ratio of the annual averages of women’s and men’s median weekly earnings was 80.8 for full-time wage and salary workers, down slightly from 2005, when it was 81.0, compared with a 1993 level of 77.1. Women’s usual weekly earnings were $600 in 2006, compared with $743 for men.
  • Another series of earnings data, median annual earnings, shows the same trend of a stalled gender wage ratio. The annual earnings ratio for full-time year-round workers in 2005 (the latest year for which data are available)—77.0—was very similar to that observed in 2001—76.3. Women earned an average of $31,858 in 2005, compared with men’s $41,386. Real annual earnings have not increased for either women or men in recent years.

For press release.  
For full fact sheet. 

Innovative Employment Approaches and Programs for Low-Income Families
By Karin Martinson and Pamela A. Holcomb
Urban Institute
May 17, 2007

Designed to assist states and localities in identifying innovative strategies to promote stable employment and wage growth among low-income populations.

The paper distills key lessons from the body of research undertaken to date and identifies innovative approaches and programs for improving the employment prospects of low-income families. The paper presents a typology of four relatively broad employment strategies, and within each, a number of “innovative” approaches and several programs that exemplify each approach. Overall, the paper identifies and profiles 12 innovative approaches and 51 programs for improving the economic success of low-income parents. The paper discusses why the approach is innovative and provides a description of the key components of each.

For executive summary.  
For full report.  

Child Care and Early Education News

Improving After-School Program Quality
By Robert C. Granger, J. Durlak, N. Yohalem, and E. Reisner
William T. Grant Foundation
April 2007

Argues that the primary issue facing the after-school field is learning how to intervene effectively to improve programs and provides new information on the features of effective programs.

Summarizes findings from two recent reports:

  • After-school programs attempting to enhance youth’s personal and social skills can improve outcomes that are important to both school and non-school audiences programs focusing on specific social or personal skills are most successful when they employ sequential, focused, explicit learning activities and active youth involvement. They also find that these programs tend to improve a range of outcomes at the same time. They refer to such programs as SAFE (Sequenced, Active, Focused, Explicit).
  • The second report describes instruments that measure the quality of youth program practices at the point of service. Although various teams of researchers and practitioners created the instruments, the report shows that these instruments share a common core and that practitioners believe the instruments capture the practices that define program quality. This convergence suggests that an important consensus is emerging in the field about effective practices.

The aim here is to help the field consider the implications of these two reports for policy and practice. The reports support the case that after-school programs are capable of improving important youth outcomes. They also support the need to stay focused on improving program quality.

For full report. 

Research Briefing Recap: Early education about location, location, location.

Posted on by Elaine Weiss

If you’re a low-income single mother, or, for that matter, a low-income married parent, one piece of bad news about trying to raise your kids in the U.S. is that our child care system is abysmally insufficient, and our pre-K programs are nearly as bad.  If you have money, you can bypass all of that by hiring a nanny or paying for private child care or pre-school.

If you don’t, though, you’re kind of stuck.

The good news is that this is changing, and pretty rapidly. With increased concern about a lack of kindergarten readiness, the rich-poor/black-white achievement gap, and too many high school drop-outs, states are beginning to get the message: we need to get kids, especially those most at-risk, ready for school, and for life. Over the past 15 years, an increasing number of states have invested in public pre-kindergarten programs.

Some are quite good, with small classes, qualified teachers, and even subsidiary services. But where you live can make a big difference.

In Georgia or Oklahoma, you don’t have to be rich, or poor, to enroll your four-year-old child in high-quality pre-K.  Anyone is welcome, and it is free. Indeed, both states currently serve over half of their four-year-olds. The same will likely soon be true in Illinois, which may also include three-year-olds, and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is exploring that possibility, too. Florida is just starting to implement “universal” pre-K for four-year-olds, but neither the access nor program quality is yet clear.

Others – Kentucky, South Carolina, New Jersey, and Connecticut – have high-quality programs, but only for a limited set of low-income children. Other states, like Texas and New York, serve large numbers of children but are not very high-quality. 

Eleven states, including most of the Central Mountain region and Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Nevada, have no state-funded programs at all. (Stay tuned for a color-coded map showing each state’s status on pre-K coming soon!)

It’s frustrating. 

Research shows that high-quality pre-K can boost the school readiness of at-risk children, significantly reduce their odds of being held back in school, placed in special ed, or dropping out, and even prevent their involvement in the criminal justice system or, for girls, of becoming teen moms.

But how can we push more states to step up to the plate and invest in it?

One way is to figure out why those states that have implemented programs have done so. In other words, what is it that they want as a return on this investment?

It sounds like an odd question – don’t policy-makers know why they put money and effort into a policy?

But the answer too often is, “No, not really.”  We can all probably think, off the bat, of instances in which states (or countries, or schools, or people) seem to just copy a good idea from a neighbor, or act on a whim or a hope.  But states do have real needs, and understanding what those needs are, and how pre-K programs might fulfill them, might help advocates better “sell” pre-K.  It might also help a public tired of too many attempts to fix seemingly intractable problems buy in to a really good one and keep it going.

My theory is that different states have different reasons for their pre-K investments.

Specifically, I believe that cultural and geographic differences – progressive versus conservative and southern versus non-southern states – may drive different types of pre-K investment in different states. 

I also think that they might be focusing on different aspects, with some states more interested in getting more children enrolled (access), while others want a high-quality program but aren’t as bent on high numbers of attendees. 

If so, different states may be inclined to create different types of programs to best fit their needs.

My hope is that finding answers to these questions might help advocates to get more states on board and help those that already have programs better design, evaluate and maintain them.

I’ll be returning to post periodically on evolving findings from my work in this area. 

I welcome your feedback, whether from a research perspective, that of an advocate seeking tools, parents looking for information about pre-K programs, or others. The more we talk about how to improve this work, the better the results will be!

Elaine Weiss is a doctoral candidate at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.  She presented her research, "What Motivates U.S. States to Invest in Pre-Kindergarten Programs" at the 2007 Stepping Stones Research Briefing. 

For more perspectives on the research briefing, please see Peter Tatian’s post, "How a research briefing was born" and Lisa Claudy Fleischman’s post, "Learning Through a Gender Lens."   Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more updates and perspectives from the researchers who presented at the 2007 Stepping Stones Research Briefing.