Policy & Systems Change Recommendations For Early Education Policymakers

By the 2021-22 San Francisco African American Early Childhood Educator Policy Council

In early 2021, the San Francisco African American Early Childhood Educator Policy Council (AA ECE PC) was formed by Children’s Council at the behest of City and County of San Francisco’s Dream Keeper Initiative, as a stakeholder group to provide direct, current and personal experience with early childhood education (ECE). The twenty-two member council, comprised of local industry experts from a variety of ECE settings, met twice a month for eighteen months. They were tasked with providing insight, analysis and racial justice recommendations centered on improving student outcomes for Black1 children ages 0-5 while identifying the resources and tools to equip them to support this outcome. Additional research and examination included interviews, focus groups, collective interpretation and analysis from several experts with experience in a variety of ECE settings.

The Challenge

No challenge has been more daunting for our education sector than that of improving the kindergarten-readiness outcomes for children of color in San Francisco. Only 44% of Black children enter kindergarten in San Francisco Unified School District with the skills necessary to succeed in kindergarten, as compared to 70% of their White and Asian peers, and 38% of Latino peers2. Early education systems are not supporting our city’s Black children sufficiently.

90% of a child’s brain develops by the time they reach 6 years old3, and the quality of nurturing care a child receives during this time is critical to their future child development and kindergarten readiness. But, too many Black children face an uphill battle in this regard… quality early care and education can serve as a positive intervention that allows a child’s brain to overcome the stresses of poverty, hunger, violence, housing instability and economic racism4

2https://www.first5sf.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/2015_school_readiness_report.pdf

3https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-ecd/

4https://centerforyouthwellness.org/health-impacts/

What prevents equitable access to child development opportunities for Black children?

ONE

First off, Black children in San Francisco don’t have the opportunity to see aspects of themselves reflected in their classroom teachers. Their self-esteem and vision of themselves is augmented by exposure to strong role models; all children benefit from experiencing diversity in their classrooms. Secondly, early educators largely lack access to training to be able to provide trauma-informed, culturally competent and anti-racist care that would support them as they care for Black children experiencing the effects of generational poverty and systemic racism5. One prominently understood correlation is that Black preschoolers are more likely to be suspended than their white peers6.

B/AA children who experience B/AA teacher as a young child

Many Black early educators are able to connect with the Black children in their classrooms because they themselves have lived experiences, and these lived experiences have a meaningful impact on Black children’s academic and social success because they often deeply understand Black children’s situations and their needs, often referred to as “The Role Model Effect”. Black children are able to see a mirror reflecting their own experiences and perspectives, and a window into their future. Investments into increasing the number of Black early educators is a step towards ensuring that our Black children – and all children – can benefit from the cultural knowledge and context that diverse educators bring to the classroom.

B/AA children who experience one B/AA teacher as a young child are 13% more likely

The value is clear when you look at the research. Black children who experience one Black teacher as a young child are 13% more likely to graduate from high school, and 19% more likely to enroll in college7

The problem is that while roughly 30% of children who qualify for public child care subsidies in San Francisco are Black8, only 7-9% of ECE professionals are Black9—a pattern played out in higher education students pursuing ECE credentials, as well. Therefore, lack of access to culturally competent, high-quality ECE is most deeply impacting our most vulnerable children, nearly a third of whom are Black.

Black children deserve better. For too long, the dream of quality education for this community has been elusive. Black children and families have been unfairly burdened with a history that includes the denial of education, separate and unequal education, and under-resourced schools (a byproduct of an inequitable property tax system). The strategies outlined in this report are long overdue. We know we can address this problem moving forward if we have the courage to disassemble the racist systems that propagate this inequity. When early educators are supported, children thrive. When early educators struggle, those struggles show up in the classroom.

ONE BLACK CHILDREN WHO EXPERIENCE BLACK TEACHER AS A YOUNG CHILD ARE

13% MORE LIKELY TO GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL, & 19% MORE LIKELY TO ENROLL IN COLLEGE

5Milner, H.R. (2006). “The Promise of Black Teachers’ Success with Black Students”. Educational Foundations, Summer-Fall 2006. Kisida, Brian; Winters, Marcus A. (2015). “Representation in the Classroom: The Effect of Own-Race Teachers on Student Achievement”. Economics of Education Review...

6https://edsource.org/2021/why-california-needs-to-ban-preschool-suspensions-and-expulsions-experts-say/646049

7Gershenson, S. (2021). “The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers”. National Bureau of Economic Research, February 2021, https://www.nber.org/papers/w25254. 8https://sfoece.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Needs-Assessment-2017-FINAL.pdf

9https://sfoece.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Needs-Assessment-2017-FINAL.pdf

Theory of Change

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Priority Recommendations

This report outlines a roadmap with three strategies and related recommendations focusing on recruiting and retaining Black early educators in San Francisco in order to improve learning outcomes for Black children.

1 2 3

Improve Early Childhood Educator career pathways, removing barriers to entry for the profession.

Improve compensation and financial sustainability for early educators.

As we look to find ways to increase school readiness for Black children, we must embrace these core strategies to get there. These strategies are also a critical component to recognizing and redressing the history of Black people’s lack of access to quality early care and education in the United States, and in San Francisco.

The San Francisco AA ECE PC concludes that solutions must address the overall inequity and must specifically focus on the inequities created by a legacy of racism—unapologetically directing supports to the Black community.

Early childhood education systems will fail to address disparities for Black children if the field continues to undervalue diversity in the definition of quality.

Responsible Transformation of the Early Childhood Education Workforce,

Published by the National Black Child Development Institute, March 2020

1 STRATEGY Improve early education career pathways, removing barriers to entry for the profession

Recommendations

Develop educational and career pathways that outline the benefits and resources available to help Black early educators gain credentials/licensing, career advancement, long-term security, living wages and benefits.

WHO: City Officials and local ECE Policy Makers, Colleges & Universities

Encourage those operating as FFN (Friends, Family, Neighbors) child care providers to become licensed professionals by marketing the benefits of pursuing a credential or license. Provide incentives to recruit and support this emerging workforce.

WHO: CBOs, City Officials, Policy Makers

Create a list of Black-owned and/or Black-operated ECE programs. List should articulate whether they receive government funding to accept children receiving public assistance. Track annual data on diversity and equity in the early childhood education workforce, collecting comprehensive data on race/ ethnicity, gender, compensation, access to professional development, technical assistance and coaching, and other indicators of equity.

Understanding the baseline of diversity in the workforce will allow us to better develop our workforce to reflect the diversity of the children. Such a list would enable Black families to choose to have an early educator that shares their race and/or culture.

WHO: City Officials, CBOs and Local ECE Policy Makers, Centers, FCCs

Fully develop and fund the Black ECE Career Pipeline Program that includes mentorship opportunities. Increase retention of newly entering ECE educators by supporting them in understanding ECE school climate and culture, while guiding them with curriculum, teaching strategies, family engagement and overall high quality ECE metrics aligned with the State’s QRIS system.

WHO: City Officials, Policy Makers, Philanthropy

Include credit for on-the-job experience in certification attainment by working with credentialing agencies and institutions to incorporate classroom and child care experience toward degrees and certificates. Develop standards for allowing experience to count as credit. Encourage partnerships between state and local education agencies, early educators and institutions of higher education to develop standards. Implement comprehensive outreach and marketing campaigns to ensure all educators are aware of opportunities for waivers of degree requirements based on experience level or credits toward degree completion based on competencies developed through experience.

WHO: LEAs, FCCs, Centers, CBOs, Policy Makers, Colleges

Fund the implementation of the Pilot Summer High School Vocational Black ECE Career Pipeline Program—a program to allow high schoolers an opportunity to explore the ECE field.

WHO: CBOs, City Officials, Policy Makers, Philanthropy

Fund the implementation of the Pilot SF Black ECE Fellows, a $50,000 investment per student to: obtain their degree, obtain continuing education, and work at a publicly-supported ECE center or FCC. Provide scholarships and comprehensive supports for high schoolers entering the field.

To ensure equity in access to degree programs, comprehensive scholarship programs should be available to early educators committed to the early childhood education field. Comprehensive scholarships cover tuition, fees and books and provide stipends for other expenses such as travel to class and child care.

WHO: City Officials, Policy Makers, Philanthropy