New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network: 2011 Evaluation Report
Asil Ali Özdoğru and Rebekah M. Widrick
Executive Summary
Introduction
Beginning in 2002, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services used federal Child Care Block Grant funds to develop seven Regional Infant and Toddler Resource Centers. These Centers, established in the Child Care Resource and Referral agencies across the state, are staffed with Infant/Toddler (I/T) Specialists dedicated to improving the quality of child care for infants, toddlers, and their families. The I/T Project at the Early Care & Learning Council acts as a clearinghouse of best practice for the I/T Specialists. Additional funding allowed for an evaluation of the Infant and Toddler Resource Network and the following four outcome domains were developed by the project team at the Council in consultation with some of the key stakeholders: 1. User satisfaction 2. Increased knowledge and awareness 3. Increased quality of practice 4. Cross-system changes
Methodology
A process and outcome evaluation was implemented through the tracking and evaluation of I/T Specialist activities and through the solicitation of stakeholder feedback. Starting in November 2010, a common data collection system was used across the seven regions in order to evaluate the activities and experiences of individuals who are involved in and/or affected by the Network. I/T Specialists were provided with a set of information tracking forms, evaluation forms, corresponding data entry programs, and instruction manuals to record their activities in technical assistance, training, and capacity building. The content of most of the forms was anchored in The 10 Components of Quality Child Care for Infants and Toddlers. The Network uses these components as their shared definition of quality child care. The data were submitted periodically to the central evaluation team at the Council.
Findings
Technical Assistance (TA) is the leading type of service the I/T Specialists offer, followed by training and capacity building activities. For all TA and training services, 59.9% of the service users were child care center staff and directors. Across the three types of services, the top three most frequently selected components were well trained staff (21.3%), environments (13.9%), and curriculum (11.1%). Over 90% of TA and training users were highly satisfied and gave positive comments. The breadth of basic TA topics and the change in self-rated knowledge before and after the trainings indicated a positive change in Network users’ awareness and knowledge. Formal assessments of TA recipients via standardized environmental rating scale scores and goal progress indices in quality improvement plans show that there is an increased quality of practice in child care programs. Results from the stakeholder surveys and interviews also corroborated the positive findings in satisfaction, learning, and practice outcomes.
Conclusion
The data on the evaluation of the New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network present supportive evidence that the Network is offering a range of services predominantly to the child care workforce by (1) meeting the needs and expectations of the workforce, (2) increasing awareness and building a firm knowledge base in nationally recognized quality components, (3) enhancing the quality of practice in infant/toddler care, and (4) forming and sustaining professional collaborations and working relationships among the major players in the field of infant/toddler care and development.
Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., & Widrick, R. (2011). New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network 2011 evaluation report. Albany, NY: Early Care & Learning Council. Retrieved from http://www.earlycareandlearning.org/programs/infant-toddler/documents/FinalEvaluationReport_FINAL_REV.pdf
Asil Ali Özdoğru and Rebekah M. Widrick
Executive Summary
Beginning in 2002, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services used federal Child Care Block Grant funds to develop seven Regional Infant and Toddler Resource Centers. These Centers, established in the Child Care Resource and Referral agencies across the state, are staffed with Infant/Toddler (I/T) Specialists dedicated to improving the quality of child care for infants, toddlers, and their families. The I/T Project at the Early Care & Learning Council acts as a clearinghouse of best practice for the I/T Specialists. Additional funding allowed for an evaluation of the Infant and Toddler Resource Network and the following four outcome domains were developed by the project team at the Council in consultation with some of the key stakeholders: 1. User satisfaction 2. Increased knowledge and awareness 3. Increased quality of practice 4. Cross-system changes
Methodology
A process and outcome evaluation was implemented through the tracking and evaluation of I/T Specialist activities and through the solicitation of stakeholder feedback. Starting in November 2010, a common data collection system was used across the seven regions in order to evaluate the activities and experiences of individuals who are involved in and/or affected by the Network. I/T Specialists were provided with a set of information tracking forms, evaluation forms, corresponding data entry programs, and instruction manuals to record their activities in technical assistance, training, and capacity building. The content of most of the forms was anchored in The 10 Components of Quality Child Care for Infants and Toddlers. The Network uses these components as their shared definition of quality child care. The data were submitted periodically to the central evaluation team at the Council.
Findings
Technical Assistance (TA) is the leading type of service the I/T Specialists offer, followed by training and capacity building activities. For all TA and training services, 59.9% of the service users were child care center staff and directors. Across the three types of services, the top three most frequently selected components were well trained staff (21.3%), environments (13.9%), and curriculum (11.1%). Over 90% of TA and training users were highly satisfied and gave positive comments. The breadth of basic TA topics and the change in self-rated knowledge before and after the trainings indicated a positive change in Network users’ awareness and knowledge. Formal assessments of TA recipients via standardized environmental rating scale scores and goal progress indices in quality improvement plans show that there is an increased quality of practice in child care programs. Results from the stakeholder surveys and interviews also corroborated the positive findings in satisfaction, learning, and practice outcomes.
Conclusion
The data on the evaluation of the New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network present supportive evidence that the Network is offering a range of services predominantly to the child care workforce by (1) meeting the needs and expectations of the workforce, (2) increasing awareness and building a firm knowledge base in nationally recognized quality components, (3) enhancing the quality of practice in infant/toddler care, and (4) forming and sustaining professional collaborations and working relationships among the major players in the field of infant/toddler care and development.
Citation: Özdoğru, A. A., & Widrick, R. (2011). New York State Infant and Toddler Resource Network 2011 evaluation report. Albany, NY: Early Care & Learning Council. Retrieved from http://www.earlycareandlearning.org/programs/infant-toddler/documents/FinalEvaluationReport_FINAL_REV.pdf
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