The Effectiveness of Professional Development for Teachers Caring for Toddlers: A Systematic Review

• In Event: AERA Virtual Poster Session 3
  In Poster Session: Topics Affecting Early Childhood Teachers, Children, and Families

Abstract

This systematic review reports on the effectiveness of in-service professional development for teachers caring for children under the age of three. Within quasi-experimental and randomized-controlled trials, professional developments showed, overall, moderately sized effects on caretakers, quality ratings and child outcomes. The largest effect sizes were on the caretaker level, followed by quality whereas effect sizes were smallest on the level of child outcomes. Results were larger when training formats included a coaching component. Based on these findings, more evidence-based professional development programs targeted at young children’s professional caretakers may improve the education and care for society’s youngest members. However, there is an urgent need for more randomized-controlled studies focussing on children under the age of three in centre-based care.

Author

• Johanna Klemm, Otto Friedrich University Bamberg