IECAM Electronic Newsletter
2008, Issue 2
You can use the tools on the IECAM Web site to zoom in on a specific location to learn what kinds of early childhood services exist in a county, township, or legislative district. The location of each child care center, licensed family child care home, state-funded PreK or Preschool for All classroom, and Head Start classroom will appear as a point on the map. These current locations of early care and education programs can then be superimposed on “thematic maps” that show the following information:
- Population of children up to the age of 5 (in one-year cohorts)
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- Unemployment rates
You can compare a demographic theme (such as median family income) with the locations of early care and education sites (such as PreK/PFA). For detailed instructions on this process, see the Help page on Viewing Demographic Theme Maps at http://iecam.crc.uiuc.edu/help/help_main_page-demog_themes.pdf.The following graphic shows one such use of IECAM’s Demographic Theme feature in the Peoria area.
This map shows the distribution of Median Family Income across “census blocks.” The legend on the left (under Map Contents) explains which colors refer to which median family income ranges in the “census blocks” on the map. In this map, several early care and education site locations are plotted on top of the median family income map: ISBE PreK/PFA sites, Head Start sites, and licensed and license-exempt child care centers.
By “turning on” different sites and demographic themes in the Map Contents box, different combinations of plots of site locations onto demographic themes can be produced. Please note that this feature gives you a general idea of early care and education service in an area. It does not give specific numbers nor predict need for care. It is a starting point for studying service availability in a given community.
IECAMNEWS-L is a periodic newsletter that announces new developments on the Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map (IECAM) Web site.
IECAM is planned and developed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in collaboration with Chicago Metropolis 2020. Public funds have come from the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Department of Human Services, Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, and University of Illinois. Foundation funding has come from the Joyce Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, Grand Victoria Foundation, McCormick Tribune Foundation, CME Foundation, and Spencer Foundation. For a listing of the IECAM Advisory Committee and more information, see About IECAM at http://iecam.crc.uiuc.edu/about.html. For training, please contact IECAM directly at (877) 275-3227 or dthomas3@uiuc.edu.
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For more information, contact Dawn Thomas at (877) 275-3227 or dthomas3@uiuc.edu
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Planned and developed in collaboration with Chicago Metropolis 2020 with foundation and public funding. Foundation funding has come from the Joyce Foundation, Irving Harris Foundation, Grand Victoria Foundation, McCormick Foundation, CME Foundation, and Spencer Foundation. Public funds have come from the Illinois State Board of Education, Illinois Department of Human Services, Illinois Network of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies, and University of Illinois.
