Success Story: Extreme Makeover: Family Day Care Edition
Pat Anderson and Mary Hughes

Problem:
The Quality Childcare Task Force of Pottawattamie County identified the need for training to improve the quality of infant/toddler care in family daycare homes. A review of educational opportunities available to providers revealed the need for training that went beyond available entry-level trainings. The Pottawattamie County Empowerment Board had funding available for a one time childcare quality improvement project, which they provided for a project carried out in 2004. The project was re-funded for the year 2005.

Response:
ISU Extension partnered with staff from Iowa Western Community College and the Area Education Agency to provide a series of workshops that included: 1.Training providers to use the Family Daycare Rating Scale (FDCRS) for self assessment of program quality improvement; 2. The Trying Toddler Years: Interacting with Young Children; 3. Creative Expression & Pretend Play; 4. Music Movement & Physical Activity; 5. Science and Math Experiences; and 6. Diversity and Multiculturalism. A portion of the grant funds supported providers in implementing quality improvement plans developed in relationship to each workshop. Twelve providers were selected for the training in 2005. The Nutrition and Health Specialist provided training on doing self assessment with the FDCRS and tracked project data and expenses.

Impact:
Based on the success of the 2004 project, the Pottawattamie County Empowerment Board has placed this project on the “to-be-permanently-funded list."

One of the 2004 project participants was featured in the State Empowerment newsletter in an article about how this project helped her improve the quality of her childcare. She renamed the project “Extreme Makeover” which was used for the project title in 2005. She is now a trainer for child-net. Another 2004 participant is co-presenting with ISU Extension’s Family Life Specialist a 2 session science and math series for child care providers, utilizing her learning from the project’s science and math workshop.

A 2005 project participant made a presentation to the Area Extension County Councils’ Legislative Forum about how ISUE had impacted her home child care business by her involvement in this project. A 15 minute Q/A session about how ISUE is working to increase the quality of child care in SWIA then resulted from her presentation.

Participants of the 2005 project shared what they had learned through display boards they created for a local childcare conference. As a result of these displays, ISU staff received comments from other providers that they would like to be part of the project in 2006.

Because research shows that measuring pre-project quality is more effective after the learning has taken place providers completed: 1. A pre-project assessment of quality level; 2. A post-project assessment of pre-project quality level, and 3. A post project assessment of their current (after project) quality level. Results averaged for the group on the 7 point rating scale were as follows: 1. pre-project rating 5.31, 2. Post project assessment of pre-project quality level 4.31 and 3. Post project quality assessment 6.10. This demonstrated that providers over-estimate their quality when first using the scales; but as they learned more about the scales during each workshop they were able to document a truer picture of their pre-project quality. The assessments done post-project shows an average rating scale improvement on the 7 point quality scale of 1.79. Child care providers moved the quality of their care from a level that fell between “minimal and good” care pre-project to a level that falls between “good and excellent” post project.

Contact:
Pat Anderson
Iowa State University Extension, W. Pottawattamie County
ISD-Careers Bldg.
3501 Harry Langdon Blvd.
Council Bluffs, IA 51503
Phone 712-366-7070; Fax: 712-366-7024
Email pander@iastate.edu