DESCRIPTION:

Child care providers and their union have long recognized the critical importance of quality early learning environments for children’s development, and the value of on-going training as a method to improve provider’s knowledge and skills. Accordingly, the union strongly advocated for training support and funds have been included for training in each collective bargaining agreement. Exempt providers can use these funds to take classes and workshops specifically designed to help them provide high-quality care and education for children.

While there is broad agreement that improving the quality of child care is important, the question  issue arises as to whether these classes and workshops are effective. To answer that question, the Economic Opportunity Institute conducted a survey of license exempt providers, using a   retrospective pre-test approach to examine their training experiences. 521 surveys were sent to  providers who had taken between 10 and 40 hours of training over a period of one to four years, of which 82 surveys were returned.

The primary focus of the survey is to explore whether the trainings increase providers’ knowledge
and skill level regarding early childhood education and caring for children. The survey also explored whether attending classes brought about additional broader outcomes from, such as making positive professional connections with other providers, developing a better understanding of the role and efforts of their union, and increasing satisfaction in caregiving as a by-product of increasing knowledge and skills. Finally, the survey gathered demographic information on providers and the children in their care.