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Kindergarten Readiness Assessment
First 5 San Francisco and the San Francisco Unified School District are pleased to announce the results of the second Kindergarten Readiness Assessment in San Francisco. This new research, conducted by Applied Survey Research in fall 2009, examines the academic, social, and emotional preparedness of entering kindergarteners, and points to the importance of high quality preschool and family support services in getting children ready to succeed in school.
For more information, check out the links below:
The 2007 Assessment is also still available:
Learning Together: A Study of Six B.A. Completion Cohort Programs in ECE
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have released an important new report, Learning Together: A Study of Six B.A. Completion Cohort Programs in Early Care and Education. The report discusses findings from the first year of a five-year longitudinal study of specialized early childhood degree programs for teachers, including the Head Start / Preschool for All Dual-Language BA Completion Cohort at San Francisco State University, which is sponsored in part by First 5 San Francisco. Overall, researchers found that cohort programs across the counties appear to be effective in addressing the unique educational needs of their students. As these are all pilot programs, the report also highlights challenges faced by the students and the institutions and provides insights and recommendations for addressing those challenges.
For more information, check out the links below:
RAND Study: Prepared to Learn
First 5 San Francisco's Preschool For All (PFA) program received high marks in new research by the RAND Corporation on preschool quality in California. RAND noted that the City's PFA classrooms outscored the rest of the state and nation on the CLASS assessment.
For more information, check out the links below:
Process Evaluation of PFA
The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is conducting a three-year joint process evaluation,
which began in December of 2005, to assess the implementation of Preschool for All (PFA) in
San Francisco and San Mateo Counties. The goal of PFA in San Francisco and San Mateo
Counties is to make high-quality preschool available to all four-year-old children by building
upon the current early care and education system of public and private providers. PFA is a
voluntary part-day program for four-year-old children provided at no cost to families, regardless
of income. PFA funds are used to create new preschool spaces and to upgrade classrooms in
existing programs. First 5 San Francisco and the San Mateo County Office of Education
(SMCOE) are serving as the PFA administrating body in their respective counties. The PFA
Process Evaluation is designed to investigate and document the implementation and the
preliminary impacts of PFA on children, families, providers, and the community.
For more information, check out the links below:
SF Early Care & Education Workforce Study
Recognizing the critical role that early childhood educators play in the lives of children and families, First 5 California commissioned in 2004 a statewide and regional study of California’s early care and education (ECE) workforce in licensed child care centers and licensed family child care homes. The overall goal of the study was to collect information on the current characteristics of this workforce—particularly its educational background, and its potential needs for further professional development. This study provides a baseline for measuring future progress toward attaining a well-educated and diverse ECE workforce; it does not, however, assess teachers’ and providers’ overall knowledge and skills, or the content of training and coursework they have completed.
First 5 California sought statewide information about licensed family child care providers and about teachers, assistant teachers and directors employed in licensed child care centers, as well as regional comparisons with respect to demographics and child care supply. The statewide study sample included providers and center staff from every county in the state, but there were not sufficient numbers of providers in the sample to generate county-specific reports. Counties were invited, however, to contract for additional local interviews in order to build a representative sample, and First 5 San Francisco agreed to commission a local study of its early care and education workforce, building on the statewide study.
To view the studies, click on the links below:
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