**Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program**

**Performance Measure Analysis: 36-Month Performance of FY 2002
Grantees**

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is focused on improving
federal program performance and increasing efficiency, while reducing
waste. To this end, there is increased focus on grantees demonstrating
quantifiable performance results. The Department uses the results to
ensure American taxpayers receive value for their money. The results
indicate the areas in which the Department needs to provide technical
assistance and highlight areas where constructive program management and
budget changes are needed.

This analysis is based on the 36-month performance reports of the cohort
of new grantees funded in fiscal year (FY) 2002. There were 121 grantees
in this cohort. Because the Child Care Access Means Parents in School
(CCAMPIS) program provides child care services to low-income parents to
support their participation in postsecondary education, program
performance is measured by the parents' persistence and graduation
rates. The program's effectiveness is measured by the federal cost per
parent who persists in school or graduates from a two-year school within
three years or a four-year school within six years.

# How are the Data Calculated?

The persistence and graduation rates are as reported by the grantees in
their 36-month performance reports. The **persistence rate** is defined
as the percentage of parents receiving CCAMPIS program-funded child care
services who were able to remain enrolled for at least one academic year
at the grantee's institution. The **graduation rate** is defined as the
percentage of parents receiving CCAMPIS program-funded child care
services who were able to complete their program of study, receiving a
degree/certificate at the grantee's institution or transferring to a
four-year institution within three years of enrollment or receiving a
bachelor's degree at the grantee's institution within six years of
enrollment.

The federal cost per parent persisting in school or graduating from a
two-year school within three years or a four-year school within six
years is calculated by dividing the federal funding received by the
grantee during the 36-month period by the number of parents receiving
CCAMPIS program-funded child care services who were able to persist in
school or complete their program of study, receiving a
degree/certificate at the grantee's institution or transferring to a
four-year institution within three years of enrollment or receiving a
bachelor's degree at the grantee's institution within six years of
enrollment. The number of parents who persist or graduate is calculated
by taking the sum of the reported graduation and persistence rates or
100 percent, whichever is less, and multiplying that by the reported
number of parents receiving CCAMPIS program-funded child care services.
Ambiguity in the performance report allowed the sum of persistence and
graduation to exceed 100 percent. This adversely impacts the accuracy of
the performance data and may result in performance being overstated for
this cohort. To improve the quality of data reported, subsequent
performance reports require that persistence be reported by grade level.

# How are the Grantee Level Outcome Measures Analyzed?

The Department received data from only 84 grantees (68 percent); another
37 grantees submitted no annual performance report (APR), or the APR was
submitted with missing (or without any) information in the performance
measure area (18 of the 37 grantees). The list of grantees with
incomplete or missing data is shown in the table, Grantees Out of
Compliance with Reporting Requirements. The outcomes for each grantee
are shown in the Grantee and Summary Performance Analysis.

# What are the Performance Trends in the Outcome Measure Analysis?

A summary of the analysis is shown in the Grantee and Summary
Performance Analysis. The overall persistence rate was 65 percent; the
overall graduation rate was 24 percent. Persistence rates at two- and
four-year institutions are comparable, 63 and 69 percent, respectively
(figure 1).

![](media/image1.wmf)

Similarly, the graduation rates at two- and four-year institutions are
comparable, 24 percent and 25 percent (figure 1). Persistence and
graduation rates do not appear to be associated with the federal cost
per parent persisting or graduating, even when disaggregated by the
school's enrollment size (very small, small, medium, large and very
large).

The average federal cost per parent persisting or graduating was
\$2,231. The average federal cost per parent persisting or graduating
ranges between \$61 and \$25,333 because the grantees provide
significantly different services and resources. Grantees may use the
funds to renovate or repair the day care facility, provide day care
services, or provide a structured early childhood education program.
Additionally, some grantees augment the federal funds with considerable
in-kind and monetary contributions from other sources.

The average federal cost per parent persisting or graduating at
four-year institutions, \$3,793, is more than double the average at
two-year institutions, \$1,460 (figure 2). This is one result of the
legislated funding formula: the annual CCAMPIS award cannot exceed one
percent of the total amount of all federal Pell Grant funds awarded to
students enrolled at the institution of higher education for the
preceding fiscal year. Typically students at two-year schools have lower
costs of attendance than students at four-year schools, and they are
more likely to attend part-time. These two factors usually lower the
annual amount of the students' Pell Grant award. Consequently, two-year
schools receive about half as much in CCAMPIS grant funds as do
four-year schools (\$99,027 v. \$186,648), on average, and community
colleges serve more students (88 v. 58), on average.

![](media/image2.wmf)

# How Can the Outcome Measure Analysis Be Used to Make Improvements?

At this time, the outcome measures have not been analyzed with the types
and quality of services offered by the grantees. Future analyses will
take into consideration the number of parents who were served by the
child care center but were not CCAMPIS-funded participants, the types of
child care services provided, the types of support services provided,
the funds spent on construction, and the amount of in-kind and monetary
contributions.

Simple analyses of persistence by the number of parents served (figure
3) and by the institution's undergraduate enrollment (figure 4) do not
point to any economies of scale. The scatter in the figures signifies
the need for further analyses and/or research, and it highlights the
limitations of the current data and analyses presented above; which
indicate that caution should be used in interpreting and generalizing
from the results.

![](media/image3.wmf)

![](media/image4.wmf)

7/20/2007