abstract: 'America''s early education sector remains so radically decentralized-a

  far flung archipelago of preschools, family child-care homes, and

  subsidized individuals providing services-that basic information on

  local organizations and staff members remains scarce. This, despite

  rising policy interest in, and skyrocketing appropriations for preschool

  programs which are aimed at boosting children''s school readiness.

  Working from a social ecology framework, this study aimed to learn more

  about local populations of early education organizations. This paper

  uses 1990 household census data aggregated to the zipcode level to

  report on features of the early education workforce nationwide. Teachers

  and other staff in preschools and center-based programs reported low

  wages, averaging about \$7,300 per year (\$10,700 in 2000 dollars), with

  most working less than full time. The median center-based teacher was 34

  years of age, reported having completed some college, and was married

  The median worker in family child-care homes earned even less and only

  had a high school diploma. About 15\% of all preschool teachers in urban

  areas were African-American; about 8\% were Latina. Twice as many

  preschool and center teachers per 1, 000 young children resided in

  affluent zip codes, relative to poor and lower middle-class areas.

  Preschools and centers located in blue-collar and middle-income zip

  codes displayed the lowest level of organizational formalization,

  compared to those operating in poor or affluent areas. We discuss the

  utility of 2000 census data to assess inequalities in the supply and

  quality of early education organizations and their staff, and modeling

  how economic and policy forces may shape organizational variability.'
affiliation: 'Fuller, B (Corresponding Author), Univ Calif Berkeley, Sch Educ, Berkeley,
  CA 94720 USA.

  Univ Calif Berkeley, Sch Educ, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.

  Policy Calif Educ, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.'
author: Fuller, B and Strath, A
author_list:
- family: Fuller
  given: B
- family: Strath
  given: A
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.3102/01623737023001037
files: []
issn: 0162-3737
journal: EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION AND POLICY ANALYSIS
language: English
month: SPR
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '33'
pages: 37-55
papis_id: 8e2f309e79243a9825710812b30e8e7b
ref: Fuller2001childcarepreschool
times-cited: '20'
title: 'The child-care and preschool workforce: Demographics, earnings, and unequal
  distribution'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000178223300003
usage-count-last-180-days: '2'
usage-count-since-2013: '16'
volume: '23'
web-of-science-categories: Education \& Educational Research
year: '2001'