The Effects of HB1519 Funding on Early Childhood Programs

Abstract

In 1998, the Missouri Legislature created the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund (HB1519). The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Social Services funded a three-year study that evaluated the development and care of children participating in programs across the state that were supported by HB1519 funds compared to children participating in programs that did not receive funding. Program quality was evaluated using the Infant-Toddler Environmental Rating Scale, the Family Daycare Environmental Rating Scale and the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised. Furthermore, the intellectual abilities of children who attended high quality programs were compared to the abilities of children who attended programs of lower quality using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities.