ED370715 PS022455
Title: Access to Early Childhood Programs for Children at Risk. National
Household Education Survey.
Author(s): Hofferth, Sandra L.; And Others
Author Affiliation: Urban Inst., Washington, DC.(BBB03823); MPR Associates,
Berkeley, CA.(BBB21249)
Pages: 131
Publication Date: May 1994
Sponsoring Agency: National Center for Education Statistics (ED),
Washington, DC. (EDD00004)
Report No: NCES-93-372
Available from: EDRS Price MF01/PC06 Plus Postage.
Language: English
Document Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data (110); Reports--Research
(143)
Geographic Source: U.S.; District of Columbia
Journal Announcement: RIEOCT1994
Government Level: Federal
This report
examines whether educationally disadvantaged or at-risk preschool
children have access to center-based early childhood programs similar
to the access enjoyed by advantaged children, and whether the programs
are of comparable quality. Eight risk factors that represent gross
indications of educational disadvantage are examined, including
low income, single parent household, primary language other than
English, and a disabling condition. The first part of the report
focuses on access to center-based programs. It looks at the association
between each risk factor and enrollment. The second part of the
report addresses the issue of the quality of programs in which children
are enrolled, specifically the extent to which their average group
sizes and ratio of children to staff met both state and professional
standards.
The report concludes that some at-risk children have better access
to early childhood programs than other at-risk children, and that
the risk factors associated with lower enrollment include low household
income, being a child of a poorly educated mother or a mother who
was a teenager when she first became pregnant, and living in a large
household. With regard to access to programs of similar quality,
the report notes that the quality of programs enrolling children
from low income families did not differ from that of programs enrolling
children from higher income families. Black children were less likely
than white children to be enrolled in programs that met state standards,
but more likely to be enrolled in programs that met professional
standards. Three appendixes provide results of a methodological
study comparing the reports from parents with those of their children's
care providers. Contains 55 references. (HTH)
Descriptors: *Access to Education; Comparative Analysis; Day Care
Centers; Disadvantaged Youth; Early Childhood Education; *Educationally
Disadvantaged; Enrollment Influences; *Equal Education; Ethnicity;
*High Risk Students; Kindergarten; Low Income Groups; Nursery Schools;
Predictor Variables; *Preschool Children; Racial Factors; Risk
