SEQUAL - Center for the Study of Child Care Employment

SEQUAL is a research tool that gathers early educators’ perspectives on workplace conditions. The goal is to support effective teaching and caregiving practices and educator well-being in center- and home-based programs. SEQUAL stands for Supportive Environmental Quality Underlying Adult Learning and was developed at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) to bring work environment factors and educators’ voices into quality improvement strategies.

A study administering the SEQUAL survey is typically requested by an agency or community seeking to improve its delivery of child care services and/or to stem high turnover of early care and education (ECE) staff. It is also used by researchers interested in examining the impact of the work environment on program quality, teacher practice and well-being, and/or child outcomes.

Our SEQUAL assessment showed that many early educators in Minnesota were working for really low levels of compensation. Many were struggling to pay their monthly bills, with one in four worried about putting food on the table. We shared the SEQUAL results with our legislators and believe it was helpful in moving legislation forward that would better support our essential early childhood workforce.–Nancy Jost, Early Childhood Director, West Central Initiative, Minnesota

Learn more by reading reports from previous studies and downloading the FAQs. For more information, contact program lead Marisa Schlieber or Abby Copeman Petig at cscceinfo@berkeley.edu.