Jenny Knowles Morrison, PhDTexas A&M University

Bush School of Government and Public Service

Research Overview

Making Sense of the Out of School Time Challenge:

Understanding the Texas Business Community’s Incentives for Action through an Assessment of Employer Awareness, Attitudes, and

Motivations

Presented to

April 2, 2014

Emerging Policy Challenge

Low Income Family Problem Everyone’s Problem* Disappearing middle class * Increasing single parents

* More working parents

=Managing OST Worker Productivity

=Business Community Problem

Opportunity for Wider Social Impacts, Unique Partnerships Emerging(Legislative Issue - Coordinate Solutions)

Opportunity for Effective Public Policy Intervention

Study Motivation

Senate Bill 503 (2013) Created the Expanded Learning Opportunities Council – first

action in recent history on out of school time.

2015 Texas Legislative Agenda Requires ELO recommendations, corporate engagement, and

revenue-neutral policy ideas on Out of School Time. No TX evidence to bolster the coming debate.

TEGAC, TXPOST Formation Momentum and support growing on this issue

= Policy Window Open!

Knowledge Gaps

• Dimensions of the logistics problem for individual employees

• Dimensions of productivity problem for employers

o If/how employers support working parents and what are effects on productivity?

o How does employer awareness and attitudes of OST challenges for employees shape corporate support?

o What are motivations behind corporate programming to address OST challenges?

o Are there untapped incentives to drive broader support of OST programming?

Research Purpose

* Understand Texas corporations’ understandings of and attitudes towards the OST challenge

* Identify private sector best practices to address staff productivity during kids’ out of school time, and

* Identify incentives to support new private sector initiatives to provide this benefit

• Research Questions

To what extent are Texas corporations engaged in out of school time programming?

*What are Texas businesses doing to address OST for their own

employees, and how can these programs be adapted to other Texas businesses?

What would motivate increased engagement by corporations?

*What is the perception among leadership in the private sector of OST effect on productivity?

*What are the business justifications for private sector leadership on OST programming?

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Data Collection StrategyResearch Phase Dimension of OST

ChallengeOperationalization Data Source

1 “Employee Logistics” Documentation of employee challenges related to filling in OST childcare gap 

Online survey of 100 employees across representative sample of Texas corporations (50 proactive OST supporters, 50 No OST support corporations

2 “Employee Productivity” Documentation of evidence of impact of lack of OST programming  

RoI study, TAMU capstone; In-depth interviews with 20 HR managers

3 “Employer Attitude, Awareness, Motivations,

Incentives”

Documentation of employer awareness & attitudes towards OST

In-depth interviews with 20 CEOs

4 “Employer Strategies” Assessment of OST strategies currently engaged by companies

In-depth interviews with 20 HR Managers; Case studies of current corporate-supported OST programming

5 “Policy Solutions” Identification of potential policy solutions 

Literature review to assess best practices nationally

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Texas Industries

Technology

Energy

Grocery

Financial/Banking

Restaurant

Retail

Services

Locations

Urban, Established OST Networks:

Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Waco

Rural, High-Need Area: Rio Grande Valley

Primary Staff

Composition

Salaried, Mid-High Income

Hourly, Low-Income

Sampling Frame: Representative Texas Corporations

OST Engagement

Proactive OST Support

No OST Support

Research with a Triple Bottom Line

Audience: Stakeholders with Differing Priorities but Similar Budgetary Concerns

TexanFoundationsBusinessesLegislators

Preliminary Insights

*Need more evidence-based research to understand dynamics and opportunities for sustained impact

(focus on details – timing, location, transportation options)

*Need to keep special attention on creating solutions that are workable for low-income, hourly/shift workers

*Best practices emerging from community collaborations involving wide array of actors

(parents, schools, foundations, businesses, providers, government, etc.)

*Need to focus on incentives to support dialogue and solution generation, expand the stakeholder community:

employees, HR Managers, CEOs, legislators, foundations…