Inside CCR&Rs
Care was an outgrowth of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative, which is dedicated to solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation. To learn more, visit www.healthykidshealthyfuture.org. To find out more about Minnesota’s GoFar Childcare program, visit the program’s website at http://www. gofarkids.com/childcare.php.
Child Care Training and Technical Assistance: Improving the Quality of Child Care By Rosemary Kendall
Child Care Training and Technical Assistance: Improving the Quality of Child Care, a recently released White Paper from Child Care Aware® of America, highlights the leading role played by Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) in strengthening the quality of child care through trainings offered throughout the states.
Child Care Training and Technical Assistance: Improving the Quality of Child Care White Paper, May 2012
Introduction The nation’s Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) are the nation’s infrastructure for improving the quality of child care. Training and technical assistance are the major quality improvement activities that are delivered by CCR&Rs making a difference every day in the quality of child care1 for America’s working families. This brief provides an overview of the importance of training and technical assistance to improve the quality of child care. This brief also demonstrates the important role played by the nation’s Child Care Resource and Referral agencies (CCR&Rs) in providing these essential quality supports for the child care workforce. Also included are the findings from Child Care Aware® of America’s 2011 CCR&R Profile Survey and State Network Survey that focus on quality improvement services--training and technical assistance-delivered by local CCR&Rs and State Networks.
Child care quality matters Research conducted during the past 20 years has shown the phenomenal growth of the human brain from the prenatal period through age 5. During this time, children make significant gains in their social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. The quality of care that children receive, both at home and in child care, affects brain development and contributes to school readiness.2 Nearly 11 million children under age 5 are in some type of child care arrangement each week while their mothers work.3 These children spend, on average, 35 hours a week in child care.4 The quality of the child care environment is critical to the development that takes place in the early years.
Researchers have identified the education and training of child care providers as one of the most important components of a quality child care setting. Research has shown
that providing training has a greater impact on program quality than any other program improvement activity.5 Low education and minimal training leave the early childhood workforce underprepared for its responsibilities. Twenty-two percent of the child care workforce does not hold a high school degree, compared to 18 percent of the general population. Slightly more than one-fifth have taken some college courses, but not completed a degree, lower than the general population (about 27 percent); slightly less than one- fifth have a college degree, less than adults overall (nearly 30 percent).6
Training and technical assistance have an impact on the quality of care With low educational requirements for child care providers–and the resulting low wages and high turnover– the training and on-site technical assistance CCR&Rs provide to the child care workforce can be a critical element in strengthening the quality of care. A growing body of research shows that training for child care providers can improve the quality of early childhood programs.
Training affects child care providers’ behavior and the quality of interactions with children. Better trained providers are more likely to promote children’s positive growth and development. Training that is linked to child care providers’ experience level, current teaching and learning activities in their classrooms, and opportunities for continued learning can make a difference in the quality of care and in the lives of children.7
CCR&Rs comprise the nation’s infrastructure for the delivery of training and technical assistance. They serve a diverse array of providers in a variety of settings and use methods that fit providers’ needs. The training CCR&Rs offer meets multiple goals: XXHelping child care providers meet licensing
requirements.
XXImproving program quality by strengthening the
knowledge and skills of providers.
XXMeeting high standards required for accreditation or
quality rating systems.
Onsite technical assistance offered by CCR&Rs helps translate knowledge and newly developed skills into practice.
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September 2012 | Child Care Aware® of America Link
In the fall of 2011, Child Care Aware® of America surveyed State Network agencies and CCR&R member agencies. Child Care Training and Technical Assistance: Improving the Quality of Child Care documents what CCR&Rs reported about their training and technical assistance services for child care providers. CCR&Rs are at the forefront of training initiatives. XXMore than 97 percent of CCR&Rs offer training,
and 93 percent offer technical assistance.
XXCCR&Rs serve child care providers working in a
wide variety of settings, including centers, family child care homes, Head Start, and school-age programs. They provide training for part-day preschool programs, faith-based programs, licenseexempt and unlicensed programs, and for relative care providers.
XXCCR&Rs cover a broad range of topics in training,
including basic orientation, health and safety, child development and guidance, child abuse recognition/ reporting, early childhood curriculums, business practices, compliance with licensing requirements, and advanced topics such as meeting quality rating improvement system standards and accreditation.
XXTraining is most often offered in classrooms or
on-site at child care programs, but some CCR&Rs offer training online, in self-paced formats or in blended learning formats that combine two or more strategies.
XXSeventy percent of CCR&Rs support providers
in obtaining certificates or credentials, half offer continuing education units (CEUs), and 23 percent offer college credit.
CCR&Rs offer technical assistance in a wide variety of areas. Most frequently, CCR&Rs offer on-site consultation, coaching, mentoring and advising. Technical assistance may be offered to respond to licensing referrals, to help providers obtain a Child Development Associate (CDA) credential, and to support child care centers and family child care homes in achieving accreditation or higher quality rating tiers.