SAC Needs
Assessment
Background
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One goal of the Massachusetts State
Advisory Council on Early Childhood
Education and Care (SAC)
 Identify the needs of young children
birth to age eight,
 assess the “quality and availability of
early childhood education and
development programs and services
for children from birth to school
entry.”
Purpose of Needs Assessment
To inform the Board of Early Education
and Care and EEC of the resources that
will best serve families and communities
in supporting the holistic development of
children and youth families.
 To building our knowledge and
understanding of critical issues facing
families.
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Where are we now?
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EEC has contracted with Wellesley
College Center for Women to develop a
statewide needs assessment.
 The researchers have been meeting
with the Planning and Evaluation
Committee monthly.
 The researchers have developed
research questions, a logic model,
sampling plans and two types of
surveys, one for the early education
and care workforce and one for
families.
5 Research Questions
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What is the demand for resources to support child
development for families with children ages 0 to 13?
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Which children and families have access to the programs
that they need including high quality EEC programs,
health care and community resources and supports?
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Are children, birth to age 13, on track to succeed when
they enter school and beyond?
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How prepared is the EEC workforce to provide effective
education and care for all? How stable is the workforce?
What supports are available to educators to become
more reflective practitioners?
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How does the workforce define and understand quality in
EEC programs?
Surveys
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The researchers developed 2 versions of the
Family survey and 2 versions of the Educator
survey.
 Short form: can be used at a greater
frequency, i.e. every 2 years.
 Long form: can be used at a lesser frequency,
i.e. every 4-6 years.
Survey questions were compiled from existing
national surveys.
Additional data sources include EEC
Administrative data such as the Educator
Registry.
Family Survey Questions
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Family survey questions were compiled
from 14 existing surveys.
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National Study of Child Care Supply and Demand,
National Early Head Start Study,
Abt National Study of Child Care for Low Income,
NHES,
HS FACES,
NICHD SECCYD,
Strengthening Families
Minnesota Household Survey
FastTrack Project
Census SIPP Child Well Being
National Health Interview Survey
MA Early Education Household Survey
Boston Public School Needs Assessment
Desired Results for Children and Families- Parent Survey
(California DOE)
Educator Survey Questions
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Educator survey questions were
compiled from 13 existing surveys.
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National Early Head Start Study,
Abt National Study of Child Care for Low Income,
NHES,
HS FACES,
Boston Ready: K1 teacher survey
Strategies for Children
NICHD SECCYD
Massachusetts Cost and Quality Study
NORCD NSCCCSD
TELL
Reflective Survey
Walter Gilliam Massachusetts Survey
NPSQ
Sampling Plans

Family Statewide Sample: Online and paper
surveys or random digit dialing
• Random sample of 1800 families
• Convenience sample from CFCE outreach
• Can include optional oversampling of low
income communities.
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Educator Statewide Sample: Online and paper
surveys or random digit dialing
• Random sample of 2700 educators
• All registered educators in the EEC
Registry
• Can include optional oversample of kith
and kin providers
What’s important to ask?
To help EEC determine what is most
important to ask on the needs
assessment, EEC asked various groups
(EEC staff, CCR&Rs, CFCE grantees,
Board Members and the Advisory
Council) to complete a short survey.
 Respondents were asked to rank the
themes by importance with the middle
ranking being neutral.
 162 people responded to the survey.
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EEC Workforce Survey Results and
Board Committee Discussions
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The following themes were considered most
important from the Survey and Board Planning
and Evaluation Committee discussions.
 Workforce training
 Workforce understanding of quality
 Workforce and ELL and Special Needs children
 Workforce in the field
 Workforce leaving the field
 Workforce Demographics
 Workforce needs for supports for children and
their families
 Workforce and child expulsion
EEC Workforce Survey Results and
Board Committee Discussions
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The following themes were considered
not as important from the Survey and
Board Planning and Evaluation
Committee discussions.
 Workforce program benefits
 Workforce job description position,
program, hours and salary
 Workforce interaction with families
and attitudes towards family
involvement.
 Workforce communication with
families.
EEC Family Survey Results and
Board Committee Discussions
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The following themes were considered most important
from the Survey and Board Planning and Evaluation
Committee discussions.
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Work flexibility/needs
Parent/Guardian Definition of child care quality
Strengthening Families/Protective factors
Child Health/Health Care Special Needs
Early Education and Care use
Information/Knowledge of child care resources
School attendance/Adjustment
Relative Neighborhood
Housing
Community Resources
Home Activities/Family Involvement outside of school
Demographics
Future Education
Family Stresses
Quality of care received
Child Care Satisfaction
EEC Family Survey Results and
Board Committee Discussions
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The following themes were considered
not as important from the Survey and
Board Planning and Evaluation
Committee discussions.
 Family Health
 Family Mental Health
 Parent/Guardian Health
 Family Involvement/Educational
Information
 Family Resources/Income Supports
 Subsidy
 Parenting strategies
How can the most important
Workforce themes be used.
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How can the Family Needs
Assessment Information be used.
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Next Steps
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Needs Assessment model and sampling
plan presented to Board on June 14.
RFR drafted and posted to contract with
researchers to implement Needs
Assessment.
Educator survey proposed
implementation summer 2011.