Page 85 - Gateways for Early Educators

Gateways for Early Educators
APPENDIX A: FULL TRAINING SESSION REPORT
Summary of Findings
Training surveys were collected from a convenience sample of participants in Gateways for Early Educator trainings during the 2015-2016 PY. Because participants’ ratings of the trainings had been similar during the last 3 program years, only a smaller subsample of surveys were collected this year than in prior years of evaluation. Evaluations were collected for 1 training at each Resource and Referral (R&R) Agency to measure: 1) knowledge gained based on training topic, 2) intentionality to implement change in the child care environment based on training topic, and 3) satisfaction with the training and with the instructor.
In summary, 157 early care and education professionals took part in the Gateways trainings chosen for evaluation and 153 (97%) completed an evaluation. Over eighty percent (82.4%) of the participants who completed an evaluation are taking part in the Gateways Passport Program. Overall, 34.0% had completed 19 hours or less on the Passport, while 48.4% had completed 20 hours or more. Over forty percent (43.8%) of the early care and education professionals who attended the trainings are Family Child Care Providers, 35.3% are Center Based Providers, and 4.6% are License-Exempt. The distribution of type of provider who attended trainings this year was very similar to last year’s distribution where Family Child Care (FCC) professionals made up the biggest group of attendees, followed by Center-based and License-exempt providers.
Of those who completed an evaluation, and provided a response 99.3% rated the training they attended as Good or Excellent with an average rating of 3.83 on a scale from 1 to 4 (1=Poor, 2=Fair, 3=Good, 4=Excellent). Participants also provided high ratings when asked about specific characteristics of the trainings. For all of the trainings combined, the means ranged between 3.83 and 3.86 (1=Strongly Disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Agree, 4=Strongly Agree) when reporting whether they agreed or disagreed with the following statements: The training presented helpful ideas that I will be able to use (Mean = 3.84), The training was informative (Mean = 3.83), The training increased my knowledge about the topic presented (Mean = 3.86), and Because of this training I plan to do new things with the children I serve (Mean = 3.85). These findings are very similar to prior year’s findings when more (18) trainings were evaluated. While all trainings received a rating between Good and Excellent, Learning Environments and Curriculum received the lowest overall rating (3.74), followed by Heath, Safety, and Nutrition (3.76). The training which received the highest ratings was Special Needs and Inclusion with an overall rating of 4.00.
Findings from the Gateways Training evaluation indicate that the trainings were impactful on a wide range early care and education professionals across Los Angeles County. Furthermore, the Gateways Training program has a potential for a wider reach and it is recommended that the possibility of offering trainings in series format for be considered, particularly for those training strands with more challenging and complex material. The findings from this report should be used in concert with an overall analysis of all of the trainings offered through Gateways throughout the county in 2015-2016 to determine training needs for the 2015-2016 program year.
Introduction
Gateways for Early Educators training participants complete an evaluation at the culmination of each training they attend. The training evaluation is designed to capture information about the training participants such as whether they are currently participating in the Gateways Passport program, the age
2016
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