Child Care Research Partnerships: 2013 Grantees

In 2013, OPRE awarded cooperative agreements to six Child Care Research Partnerships:

Stars Plus: Promoting Quality Improvement for Family Child Care Providers in QRIS using a Community of Practice Model
Principal Investigator: Rena Hallam, University of Delaware
This partnership will document the experiences of family child care providers (FCCP) in two different Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) in Delaware and Kentucky, evaluating a quality improvement framework adapted to meet the needs of FCCP. Specifically, the project will investigate the implementation of a community of practice (COP) model and coordinated curriculum- focused professional development and the effects on FCCP participation and quality improvement within QRIS.

Determinants of Subsidy Stability and Child Care Continuity in Illinois and New York: Phase 2 — A Focus on the Subsidy-Quality Intersection
Principal Investigator: Julia R. Henly, University of Chicago
Researchers at the University of Chicago and Urban Institute continue their partnership with Illinois and New York child care administrators and four local offices to develop an empirically-informed and practically-relevant knowledge base regarding the determinants of subsidy stability and child care continuity. Phase 2 will focus on provider- and subsidy program-related factors that impede families’ access to high quality and stable subsidized arrangements and examine strategies to successfully integrate subsidized providers into quality improvement efforts.

Evaluation of the Child Care Voucher Eligibility Reassessment Policy Change in Massachusetts
Principal Investigator: Pamela Joshi, Brandeis University
Researchers at Brandeis and Boston Universities partner with Massachusetts child care administrators to evaluate recently-implemented state policies designed to make accessing child care subsidies more family-friendly. The partnership will: (1) document the implementation of a new policy shifting responsibilities for redetermination of voucher eligibility from Child Care Resource and Referral centers to contracted child care providers; (2) evaluate the effects of the policy change; and (3) examine any differential effects on service populations, focusing specifically on under-participating groups such as Hispanic and immigrant families.

Child Care Collaboration and Quality
Principal Investigators: Gary Resnick and Meghan Broadstone, Education Development Center
This partnership will examine state and community-level collaborations designed to improve quality, access, and outcomes in infant/toddler care. Joining with child care administrators from Maryland and Vermont, researchers will conduct secondary analyses of existing datasets, analyze new data from all state child care administrators, and survey center- and family-based child care providers, teachers and parents at two time points in partner states. The project aims to identify models of collaboration that leverage quality initiatives leading to desired child and family outcomes.

Virgin Islands’ Partners for Early Success
Principal Investigator: Michal Rhymer-Charles, Virgin Islands Department of Human Services
This research partnership will examine the validity of the Virgin Islands’ Quality Rating and Improvement System by: (1) assessing the measurement strategies and psychometric properties of measures used to assess early care and education (ECE) quality; (2) examining the effects of introducing QRIS and new licensing regulations on the supply and quality of ECE; and (3) examining the developmental trajectories of children to identify predictors of early school success in the VI context.

Are You In? A Systems-Level Mixed-Method Analysis of the Effects of Quality Improvement Initiatives on Participating and Non-Participating Providers
Principal Investigator: Holli Tonyan, The University Corporation (California State University, Northridge)
This partnership will examine quality improvement activities among family child care providers (FCCP) in the context of California's Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC). Through a combination of survey and in-depth qualitative methods, the project will compare providers’ experiences in two regions operating with different Quality Rating and Improvement Systems. Specifically, the study will explore the conditions under which FCCP adopt and sustain changes in their daily routine activities caring for children.