Preschool for All San Francisco

1
Preschool for All San Francisco

• A study exploring the programs current success
  and failures of implementation and how they
  compare to other universal preschool programs

2
Outline

• Background Information
• Research Question
• Research Methodology
• Findings
• Analysis
• Conclusion

3
Background

• March 2004 voters passed Proposition H which
  established a Preschool for All Program in San
  Francisco
• 3.3 million dollars 2005-2006 year with an
  increase up to 10 million
• Program will build upon existing programs
• Part day programs
• Four priority neighborhoods Mission, Excelsior,
  Bayview, Visitacion Valley

4
Research Question

• How has Preschool for All San Francisco been
  implemented?
• Opinions on implementation
• Framework of implementation
• Comparison to other PFA programs
• Affects of Proposition 82

5
Research Methodology

• Key-informant interviews
• Pre-scripted interviews
• 8 interviews completed
• First 5 San Francisco
• Department of Children, Youth, and Families
• Wu Yee Childrens Services
• Gateway to Quality Childcare
• Associate Professor, Child and Adolescent
  Development Program
• Preschool Director
• Preschool Teacher
• Parent

6
Findings

• Program goals
• Prepare children to enter school (5 of 8)
• Expand learning outcomes (2 of 8)
• Expand access (8 of 8)
• Support quality of early care (3 of 8)
• Support needs of parents (4 of 8)
• PFA in San Francisco has supported my needs as a
  parent because I know my child is receiving a
  better education because they have more
  regulations then the preschool did before.

7
Findings

• Creating Partnerships
• 5 of 8 interviews satisfied
• Involving variety of backgrounds
• Engage public opinion
• Establishing relationships with Preschool
  Programs
• Teachers working with families unsatisfactory (3
  of 7 approved of overall partnerships)
• Teacher qualifications remain low because who
  wants to work and get paid so little? Why not
  try to continue to improve teacher relationships
  with families by providing more training? Why not
  empower this group of highly important people.

8
Findings

• Resources
• Increase in funding (4 of 8)
• Transportation (8 of 8)
• More city wide events (4 of 8)
• Parents need to be able to get their children to
  and from school. There needs to be a plan to
  deal with the fact that many of the families do
  not live within walking distance of their PFA
  preschools.
• By increasing the amount of funding yearly the
  program will be able to increase in number of
  children served, however it is looking as though
  we may have underestimated the amount of money
  that the program is going to cost.

9
Findings

• Quality standards
• Low quality care (4 of 8)
• Need more training (5 of 8)
• Teachers need more training and education. They
  have the opportunies but many of them are not
  taken them. In order to run quality programs
  there needs to be quality teachers who are
  passionate about their work.
• Going to the PFA programs I have seen an
  increase of curriculum development, but there
  still remains to be a low quality of care in
  these preschools as compared to other preschools
  in the city.

10
Proposition 82

• Positive responses
• Increase in funding
• Able to serve more children
• Demand of quality care
• Negative responses
• Creates too many layers
• County offices of Education (statewide, would
  not affect SF)
• Parents needs
• Overlap of services in SF

11
Universal Preschool Programs
12
Preschool for All Programs
13
Analysis

• San Francisco Preschool for All Program currently
  is heading towards positive implementation.
• Implementation is following a synthesis of both
  top-down implementation and bottom-up.
• Compared to other programs the implementation
  phase is much more aggressive as well as
  standards for teachers.
• The direct effects of Proposition 82 are unclear.

14
Conclusion

• Limitations
• Proposition 82 appears to have a relationship
  with people wanting to participate in study.
• Key-informant interviews only provide a small
  sample of participants
• Future research
• City wide survey for all involved in PFA San
  Francisco to discover opinions
• Continue to compare other programs to provide
  best model of implementation to universal
  preschool programs