NEWS

Study links Smart Start, child-care quality and children's outcomes

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina preschoolers participating in high-quality child-care programs are ahead of their peers who attend low-quality programs, according to a new study of the state program known as Smart Start. Researchers at the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill released their results today at a news conference in Raleigh.

The study had three main findings, said Dr. Donna Bryant, head of the Smart Start evaluation team at FPG.

"Child-care quality increased in the study sample during the Smart Start years, Smart Start-funded activities were positively related to classroom quality and quality was positively related to children's outcomes," Bryant said.

"This study conclusively shows that Smart Start is reaching its goal to ensure North Carolina's children are ready when they enter school," said Karen Ponder, executive director of the NC Partnership for Children, Smart Start's statewide oversight agency.

A two-year effort, the evaluation included 512 preschool children at 110 child-care programs in 20 N.C. counties. Observers measured the quality of classroom practices. Center directors reported on participation in Smart Start improvement activities.

"The study shows that a center's participation in Smart Start-funded activities was significantly related to preschool classroom quality," said Dr. Kelly Maxwell, co-director of the study team.

Children were assessed on their language, early literacy, math and social-emotional skills -- abilities deemed important for success in kindergarten. Those participating in high-quality child-care programs scored significantly better on language, book awareness and knowledge as well as math and counting skills than did children from low-quality centers.

Researchers expected children's abilities to be related to poverty, as many studies have shown, but their study indicated that the quality of the children's child-care experience made a difference over and above the effects of income, gender and ethnicity.

"The influence of child-care quality was equal for children from poor and non-poor families, indicating that quality-improvement programs can work for all kinds of children, not just those who are poor," Bryant said.

"Children from poor families are more likely to have lower kindergarten readiness skills and, thus, be in greater need of positive early childhood experiences," Maxwell said. "However, all children benefit from high-quality programs."

In addition, the study replicated an earlier finding that a center's level of current participation in Smart Start-funded activities was related to classroom quality, but previous participation was not, Bryant said. "This means that continuous quality-enhancement efforts seem necessary to sustain levels of classroom quality that will improve children's development," she said.

The larger study -- actually a series of studies conducted between 1994 and 2002 -- showed that child-care quality in the sample steadily and significantly increased, according to Bryant. Still, she said, a large proportion of preschool child care is of "low to average quality and continuous efforts are still needed."

"Perhaps someday North Carolina's early child-care and education system will be adequate to ensure that every child in North Carolina has access to high-quality care, but that day is not here yet," Maxwell said.

Smart Start funds a variety of technical assistance activities to improve child care, including on-site technical assistance, teacher education scholarships, teacher salary supplements and quality improvement grants.

-30-

Note: A special media-only Web site is now available at www.ncsmartstart.org/study.htm. Site includes a copy of the study and key contacts. Maxwell can be reached at (919) 966-9865 or maxwell@unc.edu

Smart Start Contact: Geelea Seaford, (919) 821-9571
FPG Media Relations Contact: Loyd Little, (919) 966-0867 or loyd_little@unc.edu
News Services Contact: David Williamson, (919) 962-8596