Promoting quality in programs for infants and toddlers: Comparing the family child care and center-based teaching workforce

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105890Get rights and content

Highlights

  • FCC teachers are struggling with the managerial demands of their programs.

  • FCC and center teachers are equally underpaid and economically stressed.

  • Teachers in both settings are not rewarded for advanced training and education.

  • FCC and center teachers share beliefs about child development and pedagogies.

  • Both workshops and coaching are highly valued by FCC and center teachers.

Abstract

As the provision of publicly funded pre-kindergarten has expanded in recent years, public programs for infants and toddlers have received relatively little policy attention. However, federal, state, and local governments are now trying to promote quality in family child care and center-based programs that serve infants and toddlers, often with an emphasis on workforce development. Despite the developmental importance of the first years in a child’s life, infant and toddler teachers in family child care and centers remain greatly under-studied in the research literature. This descriptive study seeks to help fill that gap by comparing the characteristics and views of family child care and center-based infant and toddler teachers in the context of New York City, where ambitious policies to promote the quality of infant and toddler programs have focused on workforce development in both settings. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected in 2019 via online surveys of 32 center-based and 30 family child care teachers, and then analyzed quantitatively to identify similarities and differences between the two groups. The results can inform the design of policies in New York City, other cities, and states that seek to promote the quality of infant and toddler care in different settings.

Section snippets

Introduction and background

Although publicly-funded pre-kindergarten has expanded in recent decades, high-quality public programs for infants and toddlers have been in short supply, even as demand for these services has increased (Banghart et al., 2020, Bromer and Korfmacher, 2017, NCECQA, 2020). Fortunately, federal, state, and local governments are turning greater attention to expanding access to infant and toddler programs, and to increasing their quality (Banghart et al., 2020, Bromer and Porter, 2017, Del Grosso et

Conceptual framework and research questions

We conducted the analysis within a bio-ecological framework that locates positive teacher-child relationships at the core of high-quality learning environments for all children, regardless of their care setting. Using attachment theory (Ainsworth et al., 1978, Bowlby, 1973), Howes (2016) posits that the formation of secure and trusting relationships between teachers and children, manifest in positive interactions that have been linked to a variety of teacher characteristics, are a critical

Data and method

We conducted a descriptive analysis using data collected from 65 EarlyLearn sites that were serving infants and toddlers in New York City (NYC), composed of 30 FCCs and 35 centers. Data were collected via three surveys, one for FCC teachers, one for center directors, and one for center teachers. For purposes of the present analysis, we drew program data from the FCC and center director surveys, and then used data from the FCC and center teacher surveys to compare the characteristics and views

Results

The sample was demographically similar across the two groups of respondents. Both FCC and center teachers were in their early to mid-40 s and almost entirely female. Most identified as Hispanic/Latinx (63% and 47%) or Black (33% and 44%). A small number were Asian (4% and 6%); none identified as White. More than half were bilingual (72% and 53%).

We first describe the work environment in each setting, as reported by FCC teachers and center directors. We then use data from FCC and center teachers

Discussion and policy implications

The results indicate some striking similarities and differences in the characteristics and views of FCC and center teachers. These comparisons can be variously labeled as strengths or weaknesses to the extent that they correlate with program quality. We discuss four themes that emerge from the results and offer some implications for quality-promotion initiatives.

Conclusion

Overall, the results render positive indicators of the pedagogical, child-rearing, and school readiness beliefs of FCC and center teachers, their common pursuit of training and education, and the value they place on professional development. These findings represent encouraging levels of professional engagement in a workforce that has generally been under-valued and under-studied as resources have been directed to pre-k programs. However, important challenges remain for the infant and toddler

Limitations

Given the fairly small sample size, this data should be interpreted with a recognition that this is an exploratory analysis. Many sites in the recruitment sample did not participate because they were over-burdened or simply too busy to do so. As a result, it is likely that our results reflect self-selection among sites that had the time and bandwidth to participate, producing a sample that is likely to be biased away from sites that were more stressed and disengaged from EarlyLearn efforts to

Future research

Future research could examine the correlates of quality that are specific to infant and toddler settings and the teachers who work there. Are predictors of quality in infant and toddler settings, and among infant and toddler teachers, the same as those in preschool settings and among preschool teachers? Are they the same across different infant and toddler settings? Does quality itself look different in infant and toddler programs than in preschool settings? In this under-studied and yet

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

The study was generously supported by the New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute at the City University of New York and the Heising-Simons Foundation. Neither played a role in the design and conduct of the research, or in the interpretation of the results. We are also grateful to the New York City Early Childhood Research Network for its critical support and our field research team, Valentina Chegwin and Carolina Snaider. Finally, we are most grateful to the study

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