| Principal Investigators: | Deanna Schexnayder, MBA and Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsors: | Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board |
| Research Partner: | The University of Texas at Dallas |
| Project Duration: | September 2007 – August 2012 |
| Description: | The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and its partners — including the Ray Marshall Center — have established an Education Research Center (ERC), sponsored by the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which will conduct research for the benefit of education in Texas, as authorized by Section 1.005 of the Texas Education Code. Current approved projects are:
Project 1: College Readiness, Transition, and Performance The Ray Marshall Center will use linked high school and postsecondary education records, in combination with variables developed from the TEA AEIS public database to determine the rates of graduation and college enrollment for seniors in Texas school districts and factors associated with successful transitions to postsecondary education. Statistical models that were developed in a similar project that used different data sources will be run on data obtained from the ERC data warehouse to test the degree to which findings are consistent across the different data sets and available variables used in the two separate projects. Project 2: An Analysis of Early Education Factors Associated with School Success in the Elementary Years Ray Marshall Center researchers will conduct an exploratory analysis of the relationship between participation in pre-kindergarten and success in the early school years. Outcome measures to be used in this phase of the analysis will be either 1st grade passing rates or 3rd grade performance on TAKS tests, depending on the years of TEA data available in the ERC data warehouse at the time that the study is conducted. |
| Reports Available: | Study of Early Education in Texas: The Relationship of Pre-K Attendance to 3rd Grade Test Results Authors: Aletha Huston, Anjali Gupta, and Deanna Schexnayder Date: March 2012 Publication Type: Report, 51 pp. Factors Associated with Education and Work after High School for the Classes of 2008 and 2009 Authors: Greg Cumpton, Deanna Schexnayder, and Christopher T. King; with assistance from Chandler Stolp Date: February 2012 Publication Type: Report, 93pp. |
A Statewide Early Childhood Education Needs Assessment for Texas
| Principal Investigator: | Deanna T. Schexnayder, MBA |
| Sponsor: | Texas Early Learning Council and University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston |
| Research Partners: | Steve Murdock, Ph.D., Hobby Center for the Study of Texas |
| Project Duration: | June 1, 2011 – October 31, 2012 |
| Description: | The Ray Marshall Center is beginning work with the Texas Early Learning Council and University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston to identify and evaluate education programs and services in Texas for children under the age of 13. The project has four objectives:
1. To understand and estimate the number of children under age 13 who will be eligible for early childhood education programs and services and before and after school-age care programs and services in the near term (2012-2015). 2. To understand and document the current supply across the state of Texas of formal providers of early childhood education programs and services as well as school-age care for children under the age of 13 based on data from federal, state and local agencies and service providers. 3. To conduct a gap analysis based on objectives #1 and #2. 4. To generate a final, comprehensive state of Texas needs assessment analyzing Texas’ early childhood education and school-age care system; and provides recommendations for meeting identified gaps in programs and services and quality and recommendations for conducting periodic needs assessment. |
| Reports Available: | Change in the Early Childhood and School Age Population in Texas, 2000 to 2010, and Projected to 2015 Authors: Steve H. Murdock, Michael Cline, Debbie Perez, and George Hough Date: September 2012 Publication Type:Report, 140pp. Publisher: The Hobby Center for the Study of Texas, Rice University Texas Early Childhood Education Needs Assessment: Supply and Quality of Early Care and Education and School-Age Care Texas Early Childhood Education Needs Assessment: Gaps between Need and Availability of Early Care and Education Texas Early Childhood Education Needs Assessment: Final Report |
Two-Generation Strategy Initiative
| Principal Investigator: | Christopher T. King, PhD |
| Sponsor: | Foundation for Child Development |
| Project Duration: | April 2011 – June 2016 |
| Description: | In partnership with the Foundation for Child Development, the Ray Marshall Center is implementing a Dual-Generation Strategy Initiative. This project seeks to create and promote the field of “dual-generation” strategies, those in which children simultaneously participate in high-quality early and primary education (PreK-3rd) while their parents participate in leading-edge workforce development and education programs ultimately leading to long-term learning and economic success for low-skilled, low-income families in the United States. The goals of the project are to improve the understanding of dual-generation strategies among policymakers, researchers, and funders, as well as foster the implementation of dual-generation strategies at the federal and state levels. The project potentially has four (4) phases, the first two of which FCD is funding through the Center:
The Foundation for Child Development (FCD) is a national private philanthropy in New York City dedicated to promoting a new beginning for American education from PreKindergarten through Third Grade (PreK-3rd). PreK-3rd Grade Education is a seamless learning continuum, connecting high-quality PreK programs with high-quality elementary schools, to create a well-aligned primary education for all our nation’s children. The Foundation promotes the well-being of children, and believes that families, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and governments at all levels share complementary responsibilities in the critical task of raising new generations. |
| Reports Available: | Promoting Two-Generation Strategies: A Getting-Started Guide for State and Local Policy Makers (Revised and Updated) Author: Christopher T. King, Cynthia J. Juniper, Rheagan Coffey, and Tara C. Smith Date: August 2016 Publication Type: Report, 55pp Austin Two-Generation Pilot Project Evaluation – UWGA Promoting Two-Generation Strategies: A Getting-Started Guide for State and Local Policy Makers Dual-Generation Strategy Initiative Research Brief Investing in Children and Parents: Fostering Dual-Generation Strategies in the United States |
Creating a Sectoral Workforce Development Strategy for Tulsa
| Principal Investigator: | Cynthia Juniper, MA |
| Sponsor: | George Kaiser Family Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families |
| Research Partners: | Community Action Program of Tulsa County, Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child and Graduate School of Education, Tulsa Educare, University of Oklahoma-Tulsa’s School of Community Medicine, Northwestern University’s Institute of Policy Research, Columbia University |
| Project Duration: | July 2008 – September 2021 |
| Description: | In collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team of partners, the Ray Marshall Center (RMC) is developing and implementing a sectoral workforce development strategy for low-skilled, low-income parents of children served by early childhood programs in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There is emerging evidence that children whose parents hold stable jobs with progressively rising incomes exhibit better academic and behavioral outcomes. RMC and its partners have undertaken a dual-generation approach to poverty reduction that strengthens the investment in early childhood development by equipping Head Start parents with workforce training and gainful employment opportunities. This approach employs a more holistic model than traditional workforce development programs, as it also includes employee counseling and other support services to help parents complete training and adult basic education, retain their jobs, advance in their careers, and become economically self-sufficient. The goal is to develop a sustainable sectoral strategy that can be replicated beyond Tulsa to other communities across the nation.
In the first phase of the project (2008-2009), RMC designed a sectoral job development strategy focused on industries featuring jobs that pay well and provide much-needed employee benefits (e.g., health insurance, annual and sick leave) as well as career advancement opportunities. In April 2009, Community Action Program of Tulsa County launched the pilot, CareerAdvance®, at two Head Start sites in Tulsa involving 15 parents. The components of the CareerAdvance® are 1) GED and college readiness instruction, as needed; 2) skills training in the healthcare sector progressing from Certified Nursing Aide to Licensed Practical Nurse to Registered Nurse; 3) weekly peer support meetings addressing a flexible set of topics (e.g., life skills, work readiness, family finances); 4) conditional cash incentives (up to $3,000 a year) for participants meeting specified benchmarks to reinforce continued participation and help offset foregone earnings; and 5) workforce intermediation between healthcare employers and training institutions provided through Workforce Tulsa. The report on the project’s first year of operation is available at the link below. In partnership with Harvard University and the University of Oklahoma – Tulsa School of Medicine, a second pilot site was opened in July 2009 at a Tulsa Educare Center. The second pilot, EduCareers, includes all components described above as well as enhanced mental health services for participating households, curriculum enhancements for the children, parent engagement training, and a medical home. The CareerAdvance® project has now been expanded to 2015 with support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families. RMC and partners at Northwestern and Columbia University have been engaged to provide ongoing on data collection, implementation, and outcomes analysis of project participants. |
| Reports Available: | CareerAdvance® Implementation Study Findings through FY 2020: The impact of COVID-19 on service delivery Authors: Cynthia Juniper and Christopher T. King Date: February 2021 Publication Type: Report, 52pp. CareerAdvance® Implementation Study Findings through FY2019 CareerAdvance® Implementation Study Findings through FY2018 CareerAdvance® Implementation Study Findings through FY2017 CareerAdvance® HPOG II Transition and Expansion CareerAdvance® Implementation Study Findings through July 2015 Sustaining Two-Generation Strategies: A Case Study of Tulsa’s CareerAdvance® Program CareerAdvance® Implementation Study Findings Through July 2014 CareerAdvance® Implementation Study Findings Through July 2013 The Evolution of the CareerAdvance® Program in Tulsa, Oklahoma Expanding the CareerAdvance® Program in Tulsa, Oklahoma CareerAdvance® Implementation Report CareerAdvance® Pilot Project |
Outcomes for Low-Income Families Receiving Child Care Subsidies in IL, MD, TX
| Principal Investigator: | Deanna T. Schexnayder, MBA |
| Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Care Bureau |
| Research Partners: | Chapin Hall Center for Children, University of Chicago; U.S. Census Bureau; National Center for Children in Poverty; The Jacob France Institute, University of Baltimore |
| Project Duration: | October 2004 – March 2007 |
| Description: | Although billions of dollars are spent each year on child care subsidies to help low-income, working families, researchers are only beginning to understand whether and how child care subsidies influence employment. Recent research, funded by the Child Care Bureau and conducted by the principal investigators in this study, has demonstrated that the child care subsidy (CCS) plays an important role in supporting family self-sufficiency by increasing employment duration among current and former Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients. The project proposes to extend this work by analyzing subsidy use and employment and welfare outcomes among all low-income families in Illinois, Maryland, and Texas—not just those with TANF histories. The primary questions are how employment and welfare outcomes differ between those who use child care subsidies and those who do not, and how these outcomes differ for different groups of low-income families. The researchers will also use the fact that child care subsidy policies vary by state to explore how outcomes vary by policies and practices, thereby advancing our understanding of the contexts that promote family well-being. By collaborating with the U.S. Census Bureau and using individual-level census records, the researchers will be able to overcome past data restrictions that have impeded study of the entire low-income population in a state. The project will result in a more comprehensive model of CCS use that will allow policymakers to better estimate CCS need and to understand the relation between take-up and outcomes. The researchers will share the model and benchmarks with interested states at a roundtable discussion hosted by Child Care and Early Education Research Connections. |
Texas Child Care Market Rate Survey
| Principal Investigators: | Daniel Schroeder, Ph.D. (Ray Marshall Center) Monica Faulkner Ph.D. LMSW, Jim Schwab, and D’nika Travis (Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing) |
| Sponsor: | Texas Workforce Commission |
| Research Partners: | Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing |
| Project Duration: | April 2003 – August 2022 |
| Description: | This project conducts a child care market rate survey to be used by 28 Local Workforce Development Boards that manage the federal child care program in Texas. The goal is to produce up-to-date, reliable data and information to use in setting maximum reimbursements rates that ensure equal access to child care, thereby maximizing public resources. |
| Reports Available: | The reports for this project are published through the Texas Institute for Child & Family Wellbeing at the University of Texas at Austin’s Steve Hicks School of Social Work. The following reports are available on their website.
2021 Texas Child Care Market Rate Survey For reports prior to 2012, copies may be obtained from Texas Workforce Commission. The following reports are available. 2011 Texas Child Care Market Rate Survey |
Child Care Subsidy Duration Study
| Principal Investigator: | Deanna Schexnayder, MBA |
| Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
| Research Partners: | Columbia University (School of Social Work and National Center for Children in Poverty), and Oregon State University |
| Project Duration: | 1999-2001 |
| Description: | The Child Care Subsidy Duration was a collaboration of researchers in several states aimed at providing important information to policymakers on the duration of child care subsidy use. The research team used administrative records from state subsidy systems to build comparable linked, longitudinal datasets on children receiving subsidies, and used the data to produce descriptive information on the dynamics of child care subsidy use. The project was a multi-state study of relationships between subsidy policies, the duration of individual’s subsidy use, and the duration of individual child care arrangements. The main objective was to determine the duration of child care subsidy use and to explore how subsidy duration varies by family income, ages of children, and types of child care used. Ray Marshall Center researchers conducted the Texas portion of this analysis. |
Estimating the Impact of Subsidized Child Care on the Employment & Earnings of Welfare Recipients in Harris County (Houston), Texas
| Principal Investigator: | Jerome A. Olson |
| Sponsor: | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
| Research Partners: | Wellesley College |
| Project Duration: | March 2001 – July 2001 |
| Description: | This project applies an existing statistical model to study the relationship between subsidized child care, employment and training in two disparate locations – Dade County (Miami), Florida, and Harris County (Houston), Texas. Ann Dryden Witte and Magaly Queralt performed the Florida application, and the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources tested the statistical model for Texas. The primary purpose of this research was to test the generality of the model by fitting in different locations and during different time periods. |
| Reports Available: | Employment and Earnings of Child-Care Subsidy Recipients in Harris County, Texas Authors: Jerome A. Olson and Deanna Schexnayder Date: June 2002 Publication Type: Report, 51pp. |
