FAQs

What is the purpose of the study?

The health and well-being of the early care and education workforce is foundational to the quality of programs for children, yet the systematic collection of comprehensive data on California’s ECE workforce continues to lag. Building on the 2020 California ECE Workforce Study, the current study will track and document the health and well-being of educators working with children birth to five 5 years of age, examine the intersection with the health and well-being of children and communities they serve and assess the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on workforce well-being and the extent of the sector’s recovery.  Community leaders, advocates, and policymakers need current information about the ECE workforce and the challenges educators are facing in order to develop effective workforce policies in California. The study will provide a profile of the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic from a statewide, regional and, to the extent possible, local perspective.

Who will be included in the study?

Center directors and teachers from both public and private programs, family child care providers, and transitional kindergarten teachers will be included in the study. Participants will be drawn from every region of the state.

How will center directors, center teachers, and family child care providers be selected?

Center directors and teachers from both public and private programs, family child care providers, and TK teachers will be included in the study. The study will also include parents and guardians of children birth to five years who attend licensed/regulated early care and education programs. Participants will be drawn from every region of the state.

When will center directors, center teachers, and family child care providers be contacted if they are selected?

Eligible educators will be contacted by CSCCE in early 2023 for the first survey and again in early 2024 for the second survey. 

How will transitional kindergarten teachers be selected?

Transitional kindergarten teachers who participated in the 2020 California ECE Workforce Study and agreed to be contacted by CSCCE for future research will be contacted in early 2023. There will be recruitment of additional TK teachers. Any TK teacher working in California is eligible to participate in the study.  We will ask principals of schools in California that offer transitional kindergarten to help us distribute the link to the online survey in early 2023.  All participating TK teachers will be contacted again in early 2024 to complete the second survey.

How will parents and guardians be selected?

After completing the second survey we will ask family child care providers, center teaching staff and transitional kindergarten teachers to help share a link to the parent survey with parents and guardians of children birth to five years who attend your group or classroom. The link to the parent survey will be distributed in early 2024. 

What types of questions will you ask?

The survey includes questions on educators’ experience, education, and background; workplace characteristics; their role in the classroom; access to supports; their well-being; and wages and benefits, and continued challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic among other topics. The parent survey asks basic questions about the parent/guardian’s background, education and living conditions; and their well-being as well as questions about their child/children who attend early care and education programs; and any challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic among other topics.  

How can the surveys be completed?

All surveys are offered online as a web survey.

In what languages will the survey be available?

All surveys will be available in English and Spanish.

How long will the survey take to complete?

For center teachers, family child care providers, and TK teachers, the survey should take between 25 and 35 minutes. For center directors, depending on program size, the survey may take between 40 and 45 minutes to complete.

How will you keep my information safe?

Confidentiality is extremely important to us. All your responses will be kept as confidential as possible. E-mails and other personally identifiable information will be stored separate from your survey responses and connected to survey responses via code key. The code key is encrypted and kept on a password protected computer in a locked office to which only study personnel have access. We will report all results in summary form, and never for individuals.

Will I be able to see the results of the study?

We will be publishing the findings beginning summer 2023. To stay up-to-date on our publications, visit our website: https://cscce.berkeley.edu/