Study Poster: Exploring Inclusion Through Administrative Data: Challenges & Opportunities

SRI Authors: Kathleen M. Hebbeler, Margaret Gillis, Nicholas Ortiz, Kathryn Morrison

Abstract

Despite a focus on increasing inclusion in California, only 3% of preschoolers receiving subsidized care have disabilities. Moreover, the state is below the national average for the percentage of preschoolers with disabilities receiving services in inclusive settings. SRI has partnered with the California Department of Education in a study funded through a Child Care Policy Research Partnership (CCPRP) grant to identify strategies for increasing facilitators and decreasing barriers to the inclusion of preschoolers with disabilities in subsidized child care. Methods across the study include administrative data analysis, interviews with key informants, and community case studies.

This poster presents key findings from the analyses of administrative data about children ages 3 through 5 years with disabilities in subsidized care in California. The data are from:

• The Child Development Management Information System (CDMIS) database, including children who participated in the California State Preschool Program, Alternative Payment, California State Preschool Full Day, California State Preschool Part Day, Calworks Stage 2, Calworks Stage 3, Family Child Care Home, General Child Care, General Migrant Care, Migrant Alternative Payment, and Severely Handicapped.
• The California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) database, including all preschoolers with disabilities.

The poster also presents the challenges and opportunities identified through the data analyses and next steps in the study.

This study poster was presented at the Division for Early Childhood’s (DEC) 36th Annual International Conference on Young Children with Special Needs and Their Families in January 2021.