Quality improvements in the early care and education workforce: Outcomes and impact of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Project

To date there has not been a systematic, longitudinal research to assess the efficacy of public investments in the professional development of early childhood educators that are funded through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood^® Project. This study of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood^® Project Pennsylvania provides a longitudinal analysis of the data for the first three cohorts of applicants and scholars that participated in Pennsylvania's T.E.A.C.H. program. Over a 5-year period, we followed the scholars that participated in this program to examine the direct outcomes, as well as the indirect impact, of participating in the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program. We found a number of positive outcomes for the scholars with respect to: educational achievement, increased compensation, reduced turnover, and improved knowledge, skill, and practice. The downside of T.E.A.C.H., as implemented in Pennsylvania, is keeping caregivers in the program. Only 15% of the scholars were still in the program at the end of the 5th year. The dropout/withdrawal rate after the first contract was 43.5% representing a sizable investment in scholars that never completed the initial contract. Based on these findings, the implications policy and practice are discussed.     

The Effects of Race and Family Structure on Women's Spatial Relationship to the Labor Market

This study examines the intersection of race, family structure, and economic inequality through women's spatial relationships to the labor market. Using survey data from three major metro labor markets, we operationalize spatial relationships in two ways: first, using a conventional measure of commute time, and second, using an indicator of neighborhood job contacts to obtain employment. Results indicate that family structure exerts no direct effect on women's spatial relationship to the labor market. Race, by contrast, plays a strong role, mediating women's reliance on mass transit, their response to teenage kids in the household, and their likelihood of using neighbors to find employment. The result is a situation in which black and Latina women are more likely than white women to rely on localized job networks to obtain employment that requires longer commutes from home.     

A note on occupation statistics in British censuses

The census occupation statistics are the most complete source of information on the employment of the population during the past century. The Official Guide to the Census Reports¹ traces the development of the occupation inquiries and gives details of the major classification changes (pp. 27-43). These changes are considered in relation to each census year, but little attempt has been made to examine their effect on the comparability of the data. In addition, certain points which are of interest to research workers in this field have been omitted from the Guide.     

Have family income mobility patterns changed?

We examine the mobility of individuals in the United States based on equivalent family income-that is, total income of all family members adjusted for family size according to the equivalence scale implicit in the U.S. poverty line. Our analysis, which tracks movements across quintiles, centers on four questions: How much movement is there across the family income distribution? How has this mobility changed over time? To what extent are the movements attributable to factors related to changes in family composition versus events in the labor markets? In light of major socioeconomic changes occurring in the quarter-century under study, have the determinants of mobility changed over time? Our findings indicate that mobility rates in the 1980s differed little from those in the 1970s. However, individuals in families headed by a young person or a person without a college education were less likely to experience upward mobility in the 1980s than in the 1970s.     

A‐Way Express Courier

This article examines the social return on investment (SROI) of A‐Way Express Courier for the major stakeholder group of the organization, its employees. Specifically, it explores the mental health, employment, and standard of living outcomes that A‐Way provides for the employees who are consumer/survivors of the mental health system. Overall, the impacts of the organization contributed significantly to improvements in the health and quality of life of the employees. They also translate into economic benefits for the employees and the community. Because of A‐Way's roots in the consumer/survivor movement of the 1970s, the article suggests that positive psychology could be a valuable framework with which to explain A‐Way's impact.