This article identifies the extent to which fiscal and regulatory action by state governments shapes the formation of sectors—in this case, including the local availability, organizational formalization, and quality of teachers in child care centers nationwide. These state-level effects are compared to the local effects of family demand and associated demographics of households. Although demand factors (e.g., maternal employment, income levels, and ethnic composition of communities) explain a greater share of the variance in the availability and formalization of child care centers, state governments have been effective in spurring organizational growth within low-income communities, advancing formalization and quality in particular. Communities with more civic organizations and churches per capita display a stronger capacity to expand and formalize child care centers. The formation of this sector appears to stem from pluralistic politics, resulting in variable state spending and regulatory actions, not simply from a deterministic advance of rationalized institutions.

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.

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The Influence of Family, Teacher, and Classroom in Northeast BrazilBruce Fuller, Lucia Dellagnelo, Annelie Strath, Eni Santana Barretto Bastos, Maurício Holanda Maia, Kelma Socorro Lopes de Matos, Adélia Luiza Portela, and Sofia Lerche VieiraBruce Fuller, Lucia Dellagnelo, Annelie Strath, Eni Santana Barretto Bastos, Maurício Holanda Maia, Kelma Socorro Lopes de Matos, Adélia Luiza Portela, and Sofia Lerche VieiraPDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 43, Number 1Feb., 1999 Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/447543 Views: 23Total views on this site Citations: 28Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1999 The Comparative and International Education SocietyPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Raffaele Dicataldo, Maja Roch How Does Toddlers' Engagement in Literacy Activities Influence Their Language Abilities?, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no.11 (Jan 2022): 526.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010526James Urwick Dimensions of inequality in children's literacy and numeracy in Uganda: Evidence from a household-based assessment, International Journal of Educational Development 88 (Jan 2022): 102525.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102525Rebecca Stone, Thomas Hoop, Andrea Coombes, Pooja Nakamura What works to improve early grade literacy in Latin America and the Caribbean? 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