4240.0.55.001 - National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2012
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 13/03/2013
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SECTOR CLASSIFICATION FOR THE NATIONAL EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE COLLECTION Figure 4.1 Sector Classifications Management type is not disaggregated within the long day care (LDC) classification due to data availability issues associated with the Child Care Management System (CCMS). A data quality statement for the CCMS can be found in Chapter 6: Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements – Australian Government. The child classification category ‘Long day care with a preschool program and Preschool’ within the sector classification is derived by the ABS. The example outlined in figure 4.2 shows how a child may be enrolled in both ‘preschool’ and ‘long day care’. In this scenario, unique child records would be presented under the sector classification ‘Long day care with a preschool program and Preschool’. Figure 4.2: Derived ‘Sector Classification’ from two episodes Derived Sector Classification In 2011, as part of the National Early Childhood Education and Care, Preschool Provider Frame project, the ABS created a comprehensive frame of all service providers with a preschool service. A summary of the 2011 ECEC provider frame was presented at Table A2 of the Experimental Estimates of Preschool Education, Australia, 2011 (cat. no 4240.0). In 2012, the ABS continued developing the ECEC provider frame through utilising existing infrastructure that supports the broader National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection. This infrastructure facilitates the merging of multiple sources of service provider information to identify unique service providers delivering ECEC services in Australia. The example presented in Figure 4.3 shows how the same service provider may be reported by a state and territory collection as well as the CCMS. A state or territory may report a state/territory funded ‘preschool’ at a particular location. At the same centre, a long day care program may also operate with enrolled children receiving a preschool program within both preschool and child care components (by definition of the National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection). In this example, a child may be reported by both a state or territory and the CCMS. While the management types for the two programs may be different (i.e. a government preschool and a community LDC), the two programs operate from the same service provider. In these scenarios, the ABS has reclassified the service provider activity type as ‘LDC with preschool’ to best reflect the nature of activities delivered by these service providers, within the current framework of the National ECEC Collection Standards. Methodological Implications on the New Derived Service Provider Classification Service Providers The change in methodology to the 2012 National ECEC Collection will result in the movement of service provider records across service activity type categories. This has a potentially significant impact on service activity output with an increase in ‘long day care delivering a preschool’ and a decrease in preschools. This change in collection methodology will have no impact to states and territories where there is no service provider overlap in 2012 with CCMS and their collections. Child Episode Records The 2012 National ECEC Collection utilised as many available episode records attached to a service provider as possible, irrespective of data source. Figure 4.4 below shows how child episodes are utilised in the new collection methodology to increase the accuracy of the number of episodes for inclusion. Figure 4.3: Child Episode reconciliation from multiple data sources for a single service provider In-scope episodes used in output populations include a combination of state and territory-only, CCMS-only and overlapping state and territory and CCMS records. Of the overlapping episode records, only one episode (always from a state and territory collection) is chosen is chosen if they are for the same child at the same service provider. Figure 4.4: Service provider determination from ABS Provider Frame and associated child episodes Based on this methodology, episode and child level data presented can be sourced from state and territory-only episodes and/or CCMS-only episodes as well as the overlapping episodes. Child Episode to unique Child Record and Year Before Fulltime Schooling Within collection output tables, users can expect movements between children enrolled / attending ‘preschool’ and ‘long day care’ categories as well as movements between children enrolled / attending ‘long day care with a preschool’ and ‘long day care with a preschool and Preschool’. Child Episode reconciliation from multiple data sources Figure 4.4 depicts how the change in 2012 collection methodology impacts on child episodes. In this example, the state and territory-sourced “Funtime Early Learning Centre” and CCMS-sourced “Funtime Long Day Care Centre” at the same location have been linked within the National ECEC Collection processes. The derived sector classification methodology has been applied and the service provider has been classified as a ‘Long Day Care’ centre. All child episodes attached to each collection source (CCMS or state and territory) for a linked service provider (eg “Funtime Early Learning Centre” and “Funtime Long Day Care”) now share the same service provider characteristics (management type and service activity type). For all child episodes within a service provider having linked episodes in both a state or territory and CCMS files, only state and territory sourced episodes will be utilised. All episodes within a service provider are utilised for child episodes sourced only from a state and territory file or CCMS. All child episodes from either input file are now classified as Long Day Care and will be counted as episodes of Long Day Care in ABS publication tables. Sector Classification Reporting As a result of data processing methods for the National ECEC Collection which ensure preschool children are counted once only for unique child counts, many children were identified as being enrolled in and attending multiple service providers. More information on child linking methodologies can be found in Chapter 3: Concepts and Definitions. Table 4.1 outlines various patterns of preschool participation and the corresponding output categories in which the they appear in the 2012 Child tables and in the 2012 Year Before full-time Schooling (YBFS) Child tables within Preschool Education, Australia, 2012 (cat. no 4240.0). 4.1 Output sectors for different patterns of preschool participation
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