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The Child Care Partnership Project Ohio: Ready to Learn |
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Description "Educational programming" means just that in Ohio. The State of Ohio is now using public television to improve the quality of care in family child care homes. By producing public service announcements and conducting workshops for adults who care for children in their homes, the Ohio Ready to Learn partnership is reaching thousands of providers. The goal is to improve the quality of child care provided in the home setting with local public television stations acting as the messenger. Partners
History and Development In 1994, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) launched Ready to Learn (RTL). RTL is a partnership between local public television stations and community organizations to expose children to an expanded set of learning opportunities, using the resources of public television. In 1999, 48 states had RTL programs that deliver high-quality programming for young children; distribute a rich array of materials (viewer guides, educational activity sheets, and a monthly newsletter); and present at least 12 workshops each year to help adults develop the skills they need to use these materials as teaching tools. In 1998, the ODHS partnered with the Ohio Educational Television Service to bring the resources of RTL to family child care providers. Building on the expertise of RTL trainers and the materials of RTL, ODHS negotiated a performance-based contract with OETS to reach 3,000 unlicensed family child care providers through workshops and public service announcements. While a formal contract defines the relationship, ODHS and OETS collaborated to accommodate each other’s interests in writing the contract. ODHS wanted to improve the quality of care among family home care providers who are certified and uncertified; it saw public television as a way to reach that audience, since almost every home has access to PBS. OETS is accountable to its viewers, so the workshops had to promote the educational value of public television. Together, they struck a balance that used PBS programming as the basis for interactive learning between caregivers and children. Current Activities To reach family child care providers, eight local member stations of OETS developed public service announcements, held training sessions for parents, and distributed RTL materials. The public service announcements convey the importance of high-quality care (e.g. "hold them, rock them, five times a day"), followed by announcements of the four workshops:
PBS stations are the public face of the partnership, and parents and providers trust public television. PBS announcements have successfully enticed both informal child care providers and stay-at-home parents to view programs and take advantage of available materials. The local stations have also engaged other community supporters in the effort. Libraries, art museums, local television studios, and even individual family child care providers have come forward, offering to host the workshops. An unexpected benefit of the partnership is that the RTL programs at each station consolidated their resources into one location for parents to access. In prior years, the RTL resources were available to the public, but were not centrally located. Now, anyone seeking educational materials distributed through RTL can access the information through these libraries located in the eight cities with PBS stations. Resources The U.S. Department of Education funds the Ready to Learn program with an annual allocation of $7 million. Participating RTL stations each receive approximately $20,000 for outreach and workshops, and supplement this income with resources cultivated from businesses and individual supporters of public television. Ohio added $1.3 million from the Child Care and Development Fund to produce the public service announcements and to design and implement the training. Local stations air the announcements free of charge, and multiple community organizations donate space to host the workshops. Results RTL trainers began conducting workshops in September 1998 and reached their goal of 3,000 family child care providers by the following April. A formal evaluation of the OETS/ODHS workshops is planned for the second contract with OETS. A small sampling of Ohio participants in the national evaluation showed that 6 months after the workshops, participants are watching less commercial television, watching more public television, engaging in more interactive learning through the television using the RTL lessons and resources, and reading more books. This trend is consistent with findings in other states. Sustaining and Replicating With over 90 percent of the nation having access to public television stations that participate in RTL, this model can be easily replicated. The quick success of reaching 3,000 providers had prompted ODHS to enter into a second contract with OETS. ODHS hopes that the programs will grow to include videos of the workshops that participants use at home. They are also considering teaming RTL trainers with the nutritionists who visit family child care homes participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Programs. Providers will then receive information on nutrition and child development, and learn about the resources available in the community to support learning. There is also talk of expanding the use of public television for training in other fields, such as helping adults move from welfare to work. Lessons Learned Cultivate new partners to convey the message of quality child care. Ohio approached public television because of its broad access into homes and the widely respected quality programming it provides. As a result, individuals who generally would not come to government-sponsored training sessions for child care, including grandparent caregivers and stay-at-home moms, are participating. Expect a wide range of participants. Workshops attracted providers from all income ranges, ethnic backgrounds, and family types. Be sure to train trainers to address this diversity in their audience. Create a safe environment. The goal of ODHS was to reach certified and uncertified family child care providers to improve the quality of care, not to catch them in violation of the laws. Participants were not required to provide any identifying information when they attended the trainings. Listen to what motivates your partners. OETS is held accountable by how many people watch the programs. ODHS had to make sure that the partnership would promote public television and still improve the quality of care that children receive. Find common ground in establishing the terms of the partnership. Contact Information Susan Ignelzi, Ph.D. |
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