Studies in the News is a service provided to the Legislature and Governor's Office by the State Library's Research Bureau. Weekly lists of current articles related to legislative issues will be supplemented by monthly lists focusing on a specific area of public policy. Prior lists can be viewed from the California State Library's Web site at www.library.ca.gov/CRB/SITN.cfm.

This service works as before:

• In addition to our regular Studies in the News, you may request any of our five monthly "Supplements" in the following areas by sending a reply to this e-mail (Please mark your choices).

• _____ Education Policy

• _____ Health Care Policy

• _____ Children and Family Policy

• _____ Environment, Growth Management and Transportation Policy

• _____ Employment, Training, Vocational Education, and Welfare to Work

• You may get copies of these studies by e-mailing a request to <chenningfeld@library.ca.gov> (Christie Henningfeld oversees the State Library's Capitol office), by calling 319-2691, or by stopping by room 5210 in the Capitol.

• If you would like us to try to get other studies, please e-mail information about each study you want to <chenningfeld@library.ca.gov>.

• Please use the same avenues if you want to be off the distribution lists.

• The list which follows shows only current additions to the collection. If you would like a cumulative list, or a cumulative list for only selected topics, please e-mail <chenningfeld@library.ca.gov>.

IMPROVED CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Distance Learning in Early Childhood Education. By the National Child Care Information Center, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (The Center, Fairfax, Virginia) 2006. 16 p.

Full Text at: www.nccic.org/poptopics/distancelearning.pdf

[“States are expanding training delivery systems for child care providers in order to make additional training and education more accessible. States also are accepting a greater variety of training - including distance learning courses (such as correspondence courses, video conferencing, Web-based correspondence, etc.) - as a way for providers to satisfy licensing and/or additional education requirements. The following are examples of different methods and approaches to distance learning in early childhood education, such as correspondence courses, Internet/Web-based courses, interactive media courses, satellite training courses, television/video courses, and programs that use a combination of methods. Also included is a sample of distance learning resources.”]

[Request #S60756]

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A Children’s Stock Portfolio: One Smart Investment. By the Connecticut Commission on Children. (State of Connecticut, General Assembly, State Capitol, Hartford, Connecticut) April 2007. 25 p.

Full Text at: www.cga.ct.gov/COC/PDFs/prevention/040207_stockportfolio_v1.pdf

[“Flanked by schoolchildren, business leaders, and fellow lawmakers, Speaker of the House James A. Amann held a news conference… to release Connecticut's first Children’s Stock Portfolio. The Portfolio, compiled by the Commission on Children, shows that state prevention policies help children succeed while producing a healthy return-on-investment (ROI) for the state. ‘Simply put, it pays to invest in prevention for children,’ Amann said. ‘Like a good stock investment, it keeps paying for itself for years and years by avoiding costs and compounding interest.’ The areas where prevention has a proven ROI include preschool, vaccination, home visitation, and mentoring. The Portfolio lists promising practices in four other areas: parent engagement, reading, after school activities, and safe school environments. Among the findings in the Portfolio: * Every dollar invested in quality home visitation for high-risk families saves Connecticut $6.12 in future spending. * Every dollar invested in high-quality preschool for low-income children saves Connecticut $18.89 in future spending.”]

[Request #S60757]

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2007 California County Data Book: The Most Comprehensive County-Level Data on Children’s Health, Education and Family Economic Status. By Children Now. (Children Now, Oakland, California) June 2007. 544 p.

Full Text at: http://publications.childrennow.org/assets/pdf/policy/cdb07/cdb07_complete.pdf

[“Wide disparities in children’s well-being from county to county are presented in a new report by Children Now, a leading nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring that all children thrive…. 2007 California County Data Book is an online, public resource providing the most comprehensive county-level data on children’s health, education and family economic status. It also provides county rankings for key indicators. These data illuminate the vast differences between counties that are masked by statewide figures.” Children Now (June 20, 2007.)]

Full Report:
http://publications.childrennow.org/assets/pdf/policy/cdb07/cdb07_complete.pdf

Interactive Data Book:
http://publications.childrennow.org/publications/invest/cdb07/cdb07_home.htm

[Request #S60758]

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What is the cost of a preschool program? By Henry M. Levin and Heather L. Schwartz. For presentation at AEFA 2007 Annual Conference, Baltimore, Maryland. (National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, New York) March 23, 2007. 28 p.

Full Text at: www.cbcse.org/media/download_gallery/Cost%20of%20Preschool.pdf

[“State and local governments that wish to establish or improve preschool programs need cost estimates to evaluate the magnitude of appropriations required. Yet even a casual scrutiny of available expenditure data reveals an enormous variance between the most expensive and least expensive preschool provisions. The purpose of this paper is to delineate the root causes of differences in per-student costs of states’ preschool programs and to suggest cost tradeoffs as different features such as smaller class size or longer school days are introduced or substituted for each other. These cost findings are contrasted with recent meta-analyses of the effectiveness of different program provisions. The goal of this paper is to advance the still nascent body of research on preschool cost effectiveness, and to aid state or local governments to assess the mix of characteristics that are most effective for any given budget constraint. The paper builds partially on the authors’ previous analysis of international preschool programs.”]

[Request #S60759]

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The Abbott Preschool Program Longitudinal Effects Study (APPLES). Interim Report. By Ellen Frede and others. (National Institute for Early Education Research, New Brunswick, New Jersey) June 2007. 48 p.

Full Text at: http://nieer.org/resources/research/APPLES.pdf

[“The gains children made in language, literacy and math during preschool were largely sustained during their kindergarten year, leading to a narrowing of the achievement gap, say researchers who conducted the… NIEER study of New Jersey's Abbott Preschool Program. Kindergarteners who attended the Abbott program serving the state’s neediest districts closed more than 50 percent of the gap between their literacy scores and the national average. Those who didn't attend the program closed 18 percent of the gap. In math, children who attended Abbott pre-K continued to outperform in kindergarten those who did not. NIEER Co-Director Ellen Frede, principal author and former head of the department at the New Jersey Department of Education responsible for implementing the Abbott pre-K program, said the findings are heartening because ‘One of the goals of mandating the program was to help underprivileged children close the achievement gap.’” NIEER Online Newsletter (June 15, 2007.)]

[Request #S60760]

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Improving Early Reading Skills for Children in Poverty. FPG Snapshot. No. 47. (FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina) June 2007. 2 p.

Full Text at: www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap47.pdf

[“Almost 70 percent of low-income fourth grade students cannot read at a basic level, according to the US Department of Education. Facts such as this were the impetus for Reading First which was created as part of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act. Like many reading programs, Reading First focuses exclusively on instructional methods. The idea is that if you provide quality, evidence-based lessons by good teachers, students will perform better in reading. But what if this premise is not entirely correct? What if it takes more than quality teaching to help low-income children learn to read? Researchers from FPG Child Development Institute and the School of Education at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that classroom and school characteristics had a larger effect on student’s long-term reading abilities than the method of instruction or the child’s background.”]

FPG Snapshot:
http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~snapshots/snap47.pdf

Related materials:
http://www.fpg.unc.edu/news/highlight_detail.cfm?ID=694

[Request #S60761]

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Description and Employment Criteria of Instructional Paraprofessionals. Issue Brief. No. NCES 2007–008. (National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC) June 2007. 4 p.

Full Text at: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/2007008.pdf

[“Most public elementary and secondary schools have ‘instructional paraprofessionals’ who are support staff responsible for assisting in the delivery of instruction. Instructional paraprofessionals account for about 12 percent of full-time or its equivalent staff in these schools while teachers make up about half of such staff (Hoffman and Sable 2006). However, little is known about the assignments of these paraprofessionals and the educational qualifications that they are required to have in order to work in an instructional capacity. This Issue Brief (1) offers a descriptive portrait of the distribution of instructional paraprofessionals in all public elementary and secondary schools by instructional responsibility and selected school characteristics and (2) examines the educational attainment criteria used by school districts in hiring these paraprofessionals.”]

Full text:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/2007008.pdf

Standard errors:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2007/2007008_se.pdf

[Request #S60763]

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IMPROVED FAMILY FUNCTIONING

Building, Engaging, and Supporting Family and Parental Involvement in Out-of-School Time Programs. By Allison Horowitz and Jacinta Bronte-Tinkew. Research-to-Results. No. 2007-16. (Child Trends, Washington, DC) June 2007. 6 p.

Full Text at: www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-2007_06_19_RB_ParentEngage.pdf

[“This brief describes family involvement and why it matters for out-of-school time programs. It also examines some of the issues that program staff face when attempting to engage parents, and offers suggestions for how to encourage family and parental involvement.” Child Trends E-Newsletter (June 20, 2007.)]

[Request #S60764]

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“Need for and Use of Family Leave Among Parents of Children With Special Health Care Needs.” By Paul J. Chung and others. IN: Pediatrics, vol. 119, no. 5 (May 2007) pp. e1047-e1055.

Full Text at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/119/5/e1047

[“Parents of children with special health care needs are especially vulnerable to work-family conflicts that family leave benefits might help resolve. In this study, published in the May issue of ‘Pediatrics,’ researchers find that many full-time working parents of kids with special health care needs say they need more leave than they have access to.” CFK Weekly (June 20, 2007.)]

[Request #S60765]

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Facts at a Glance: A Fact Sheet Reporting National, State-Level, and City-Level Trends in Teen Childbearing. By Erum Ikramullah and others. Publication No. 2007-12. (Child Trends, Washington, DC) June 2007. 4 p.

Full Text at: www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-06_26_2007_FG_2007FactsAtAGlance.pdf

[“Teens in some states are much more likely to have a baby than are teens in other states, according to the 2007 edition of Child Trends’ annual ‘Facts At a Glance’…. The report also finds that the national teen birth rate is at an historic low, continuing a 14-year decline in the proportion of teens who become mothers…. ‘Facts At a Glance’ also provides national and state-level statistics on teen birth rates by marital status, as well as statistics showing the percentage of low birth weight babies born to female teens; taxpayer costs associated with teen childbearing; and teen sexual behavior (in particular, the percentage of students in grades nine through 12 who say that they practice abstinence and the proportion of sexually active students in these grades who say they used a condom the last time that they had sex).” Child Trends (June 27, 2007.)]

Full text:
www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends-06_26_2007_FG_2007FactsAtAGlance.pdf

State-by-state ranking:
www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Ternds-06_26_2007_TBL_FAAGStateRanking.pdf

[Request #S60766]

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Making Pre-kindergarten Work for Low-income Working Families. By Rachel Schumacher and others. Child Care and Early Education Series. Policy Paper. No. 1. (Center for Law and Social Policy, Washington, DC) June 2007. 24 p.

Full Text at: http://clasp.org/publications/making_pre-k_work.pdf

[“Our review of state policies suggests that there is a significant need to reexamine efforts to expand pre-kindergarten services to low-income children, in both the context of family work patterns and that of increased partnerships with community-based programs. No state or national leader would wish to create new opportunities for high-quality early care and education that are inaccessible to children in low-income working families. In order to better address working family needs, state leaders will need to devote time, attention, and resources to better designing pre-kindergarten programs that work for working families. Including community-based child care in state pre-kindergarten programs presents an important opportunity to bring together the dual goals of promoting early learning and supporting low-income working families. However, policies must also intentionally encourage and fund the creative approaches described in this paper; and they must explore additional solutions to this critical issue.”]

[Request #S60767]

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IMPROVED HEALTH

Reducing Behavior Problems in Early Care and Education Programs: An Evaluation of Connecticut’s Early Childhood Consultation Partnership. By Walter S. Gilliam, Yale University School of Medicine. Impact: Ideas and Information to Promote the Health of Connecticut’s Children. (Child Health and Development Institute of Connecticut, Inc., Farmington, Connecticut) May 2007. 16 p.

Full Text at: www.chdi.org/files/5162007_145018_183022_pdf.pdf

[“States across the nation have experimented with placing mental health experts in preschool classrooms for about a decade. But while such programs can cost millions and look good, nobody has ever been sure they work. Now, the results of a first-in-the-nation study of Connecticut preschools released in May suggest that they do. ‘The results are strong enough to say, at least from a teacher's perspective, that children in the classrooms [with consultants] were significantly improved,’ said study author Walter Gilliam, an assistant professor of child psychiatry and psychology at the Yale Child Study Center. Connecticut adopted the program, known as the Early Childhood Consultation Partnership, in 2002. By the end of this year, the program will include 20 consultants at a cost of $2.6 million a year, paid by the state Department of Children and Families. While any preschool or day-care center is eligible to participate, centers catering to large numbers of low-income families have priority.” Hartford Courant (June 18, 2007.)]

[Request #S60768]

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Early Report. Feature Issue on Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (Center for Early Education and Development, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota) Spring 2007. 28 p.

Full Text at: http://education.umn.edu/ceed/publications/earlyreport/spring07.pdf

[“Each issue of ‘Early Report,’ the newsletter of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Early Education and Development, explores a specific topic related to young children and their families. The Spring 2007 issue explores infant and early childhood mental health from a variety of perspectives, including screening and assessment, environments and best practices”. Natural Resources (June 28, 2007.)]

[Request #S60769]

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Healthy Behaviors for Children and Families: Developing Exemplary Practices in Nutrition, Physical Activity and Food Security in Afterschool Programs. By Andria Fletcher. (Center for Collaborative Solutions, Sacramento, California) March 2007. 62 p.

Full Text at: http://www.ccscenter.org/images/library/File/whats_new/Formatted%20Exemplary%20Practices%207-19-07.pdf

[“This guide is written for directors, members of leadership teams and partners in afterschool programs. Based on extensive research and field experience, it is designed to help you systematically strengthen the nutrition, physical activity and food security of students and their families by deepening your understanding of exemplary practices and providing you with the tools you’ll need to develop action plans and assess your progress as you move toward the achievement of your goals…. Overweight is the most common health problem facing children today - and one that has reached epidemic proportions…. We can and must find new ways to reverse this trend. Part of the answer lies in the fact that children and young people who acquire the knowledge and motivation they need to make wise decisions about their eating habits and physical activity are much more likely to develop healthy lifestyles and maintain them over the course of their lifetimes. While it’s prudent not to promise too much, it’s clear that afterschool programs are well-positioned to help make this happen and to become part of the urgently needed, comprehensive solution to this potentially devastating problem.”]

[Request #S60770]

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IMPROVED SYSTEMS OF CARE

Report on Unspent Child Care Funding. By the California Department of Education. (The Department, Sacramento, CA) April 1, 2007. 15 p.

Full Text at: www.earlyeducation.org/unspentfunds.pdf

[“Despite the goal of the California Department of Education to utilize all available funds and provide services to eligible children and families, there is a basic lack of congruence between the amount of funds available for services and the amount of funds earned by the existing pool of CDE contractors. This report will examine, as requested, why funds are not being or cannot be spent as authorized, the reasons the funds are not reaching the contracted providers, why funds cannot be spent within the period(s) they were authorized, and the reasons the funds are not reaching the eligible families. The report will also examine the adequacy of department staffing, contracting problems, contractor response to department request for proposals, contractor ability to earn contracts, and reallocation of funds between contractors.”]

[Request #S60771]

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Report on the Issue of Returned Child Development Contract Funds in California. By Melinda Martin. (Kidango, Inc., Fremont, California) 2007. 23 p.

Full Text at: www.earlyeducation.org/returnedfunds.pdf

[“The state subsidy system for child development services is one of the most complex. This complexity creates the problem of returned funds to the State. It would be a mistake to blame the Legislature, Governor, California Department of Education or Contractors operating center based programs or Alternative Payment Programs. Looking at one issue for resolution will not necessarily result in more children being served. The issues range from the way the Legislature distributes funds and the incredibly difficult funding streams, to rules imposed by the California Department of Education and the Legislature, to the lack of training or skill on the part of program operators and consequences that come from economic and demographic shifts. The Legislature and Governor should implement legislation to deal with the inordinate and unproductive requirements on the child development programs serving low income families. The California Department of Education should eliminate programmatic and fiscal rules that make it difficult for programs to earn funds and provide services. The Department of Finance should expeditiously approve changes that streamline the system proposed by the Department of Education. CDE should provide training directly or through Local Planning Councils in fiscal requirements.”]

[Request #S60772]

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The State Paying More Money for Less Quality: State Contract versus Voucher Funded Child Development. By Kidango. (Kidango, Inc., Fremont California) 2007. 5 p.

Full Text at: www.earlyeducation.org/moreforless.pdf

[“In the last ten years there have been many quality programs that have closed or had to subcontract them to others due to the fiscal problems created by a low and unfair reimbursement rate. Many of these programs had been in existence for 30 years or more. The State can either reverse this perverse incentive for lower quality programs, or continue to see the closure of high quality programs that serve working poor families. By instituting a tiered reimbursement system that rewards quality and child outcomes, programs that best prepare children for school will be reimbursed at the highest level instead of the lowest. A number of cost/benefit studies have shown that for every $1 spent on high quality preschool, government saves $7 of future costs. The Federal Reserve Bank recently called high quality preschool a better investment than the stock market. The research is clear: the State cannot afford to let these programs go. The time to tie rates to quality is now.”]

[Request #S60773]

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Disparities in California’s Child Care Subsidy System: A Look at Teacher Education, Stability and Diversity. By Marcy Whitebook and others. (Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, University of California, Berkeley, California) 2007. 19 p.

Full Text at: www.iir.berkeley.edu/cscce/pdf/subsidy_system07.pdf

[“Using data from the California Early Care and Education Workforce Study, commissioned by First 5 California and released in 2006, this policy brief focuses on disparities in staff professional preparation, stability, and diversity between licensed child care centers that receive public funding solely through vouchers, and those that receive it through a contract with Head Start or the California Department of Education.” Early Education in the News (June 24, 2007.)]

[Request #S60774]

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California’s Afterschool Expansion: The Planning for Implementation of Proposition 49 and Considerations for Planners in Other States. By Joseph Ames. (William T. Grant Foundation, New York, New York) 2007. 39 p.

Full Text at: www.wtgrantfoundation.org/usr_doc/California_Afterschool_Expansion.pdf

[“Former reporter and editor Joseph Ames wrote this very readable new William T. Grant Foundation report about California's work to create the largest state-funded expansion of after-school services in U.S. history. The report profiles the effort, offers an early look at the results, and distills lessons for policymakers and planners in other states.” CFK Weekly (June 20, 2007.)]

[Request #S60775]

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Low Wages Prevalent In Direct Care and Child Care Workforce. By Kristin Smith and Reagan Baughman. Policy Brief. No. 7. (Carsey Institute, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire) Summer 2007. 12 p.

Full Text at: www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/documents/Caregivers%20Brief_final.pdf

[The recent “Supreme Court ruling that home aids are not eligible for the federal minimum wage makes this Carsey Institute brief all the more timely. It finds that workers who care for children and the elderly (including preschool teachers and child care providers) are more likely than other female workers to receive low wages, change jobs often, lack health insurance, and live in low-income families.” CFK Weekly (June 20, 2007.)]

[Request #S60776]

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How to Plan a Site Visit: Inviting Policymakers to See Your Work with Infants, Toddlers and their Families. By Zero to Three. (Zero to Three, Washington, DC) [2007] 4 p.

Full Text at: www.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/SiteVisitFinal.pdf?docID=3521

[“Some say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but showing someone your work firsthand can be worth many more. One of the most effective ways to ‘Be a Voice for Babies’ is to invite policymakers to experience your work with infants and toddlers for themselves. A site visit gives policymakers the opportunity to connect the decisions they make to the faces of infants, toddlers, and families in their community, and is a great strategy that can create a lasting impression. Use the guidance below to plan and implement a site visit with your local, state and federal policymakers.”]

[Request #S60777]

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NEW CONFERENCES AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

The First Nine Months of Fatherhood Conference: August 20-21, 2007. Omni Houston Hotel, Houston, Texas.

Full Text at: www.oag.state.tx.us/conferences/fatherhood/

[“Chapin Hall is co-sponsoring the First Nine Months of Fatherhood Conference in Houston on August 20-21. Hosted by the Texas Office of the Attorney General, the conference will explore emerging research and practice on paternal contributions to maternal and infant outcomes.” News from Chapin Hall (June 19, 2007.)]

[Request #S60781]

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Make it Your Own Awards. The Case Foundation, Washington, DC. Apply by August 8, 2007.

Full Text at: www.casefoundation.org/make-it-your-own/awards

[“The Youth Policy Action Center has been working closely with the Case Foundation to help them shape a new approach to philanthropy. The Make It Your Own Awards™, a new initiative from the Case Foundation, launched on June 26, 2007, is about giving grants, tools, and recognition to people who are coming together to discuss what matters, form solutions, and take action. Twenty semi-finalists will each receive $10,000 grants to start bringing their ideas to life. Four final grant recipients will then be chosen by the public using an online voting system. These finalists will each be awarded an additional $25,000 grant.” Youth Policy Action Center (June 26, 2007.)]

[Request #S60782]

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