A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

National Evaluation of The Even Start Family Literacy Program, 1998

Chapter 6

What Was the Extent of Participation in Early Childhood Education?

Ninety-five percent of the 45,919 children for whom we received participation data in 1996-97 participated in some form of early childhood education services. The most common types of early childhood education services were organized, center-based programs (43 percent) and individualized, home-based programs (37 percent, Exhibit 6.7). The percentages of children participating in day care programs that included educational components increased by 13 percentage points between 1995-96 and 1996-97 (from 6 percent to 19 percent) possibly reflecting the increasing numbers of infants and toddlers in Even Start. On the other hand, the percentage of children receiving Even Start services designed for school-age children decreased from 17 percent to 7 percent over these two years.

As expected, a majority of 6-7-year-olds received Even Start educational services that were coordinated with their compulsory education activities. Participation in Even Start-sponsored center-based programs and home-based services was more common among younger children. Every year since 1994-95, about 5 to 10 percent of children in participating families did not participate in any Even Start early childhood education services.

Of the 5 percent of children who did not participate in any Even Start services in 1996-97, 34 percent were 0-2-year-olds, 21 percent were 3-4-year-olds, 10 percent were 5-year-olds, 16 percent were 6-7-year-olds, and 18 percent were older than 7 years (not shown in exhibit). The non-participating infants and toddlers (representing less than 2 percent of all children in the participating families) may have been younger siblings of preschool age children who were regular Even Start participants. The non-participating children ages 8 and older, representing 1 percent of all Even Start children in 1996-97, may have "graduated" from the core early childhood education services offered by their projects although their parents were still completing their educational goals.

In terms of length of participation, nearly one-third of children (31 percent) participated for one to three months; 19 percent for four to six months, 28 percent for seven to nine months, and 22 percent participated for ten to twelve months (not shown in exhibit). These percentages have remained constant over the last three years.

Using multiple regression, we identified several parent, child, and project characteristics related to children participating in Even Start for ten to twelve months during 1996-97 (Appendix C, Exhibit C.9)⁸². The rates of "full-year participation" (i.e., ten to twelve months) differed substantially between new enrollees and children who continued from previous years, representing 65 percent and 35 percent, respectively, of all Even Start children in 1996-97. Children who enrolled in the middle of the program year could not participate for ten to twelve months in a given program year, for example. However, it is noted that 36 percent of children who continued from previous years participated in Even Start nearly the entire program year (Exhibit 6.8). Given that 35 percent of children in 1996-97 had continued from previous years, roughly 13 percent of children who participated in 1996-97 had received one full year or more of Even Start services by the end of that program year.⁸³

Combining new and continuing children together, children of teen parents were less likely to participate ten to twelve months (14 percent) than were children of parents age 30 years or older (26-28 percent, not shown in exhibit). Children in kindergarten and primary school had higher rates of "full-year participation" (27-32 percent) than pre-kindergarten children (16-23 percent). This may be due to a somewhat higher percentage of teen parents who exited the program during 1996-97 compared to older parents.

The regression analysis revealed several service delivery features that were positively related to the extent of children's participation in Even Start (see Appendix C, Exhibit C.9 for detailed results), including support services and service intensity that were related to parents' participation rates:

• Number of support services families received, especially for children continuing from previous years (Exhibit 6.8);

• Service intensity (25 percent of children enrolled in projects offering sixty-five or more hours per month of early childhood education participated for ten to twelve months, compared to 19 percent of children in projects offering sixteen to thirty-five hours of services, Exhibit 6.8);

• Integration of services across all core service areas;

• Transitional services for children; and

• Number of Even Start paid staff.

Regarding service intensity, projects offering the fewest average hours of services also had a relatively high percentage of children who participated for ten to twelve months. These projects include many of the "home-based" projects in which service hours tend to be substantially lower than center-based projects, but the extent of families' involvement appears to be at least on par with the national average.

In addition to longevity of participation, we examined the regularity of children's attendance in early childhood education activities. Consistent with the previous three program years, the majority of children participating in 1996-97 had solid attendance records (76 percent). Fifty-one percent were rarely absent, and 25 percent were absent only occasionally.

Footnotes:

⁸² This multiple regression analysis used the same set of independent variables listed in Exhibit 6.1, except that it excluded "Hours of adult education services offered" and "Hours of parenting education services offered."

⁸³ Data collected for the second national evaluation did not allow us to examine closely how long each family, parent, and child participated in Even Start. Data collected in the third national evaluation will allow more accurate analyses of participation patterns (e.g., comparisons of possible versus actual numbers of months of participation).

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