3-034 - Trends in Preschool Quality and Child Outcomes: Tracking Relationships in National and State Studies

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Across both federal and state early care and education (ECE) programs, the growing policy emphasis on quality is based on the research evidence relating quality to children’s development and unpacking contributing factors. Two types of studies support the importance of the quality-outcomes relation: program evaluations and studies considering associations of quality and child outcomes when quality varies naturalistically (Burchinal, Zaslow & Tarullo, 2016). Research shows the interplay between quality, teacher and classroom factors, and child outcomes is dynamic, with relationships differing based on key characteristics of context and participants. This symposium draws on data from four major studies: multiple cohorts of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2006-2014), nationally representative descriptive study of children, families and classrooms in Head Start; longitudinal state-level evaluations of both North Carolina Pre-K and Georgia Pre-K; and a national evaluation of the Educare preschool program. Individually and collectively, these data provide opportunities to look closely at linkages across a range of measures of observed quality, of teacher and classroom characteristics, and of multiple domains of children’s outcomes--not just at a single time point, but over time within a particular program model. Each study also examines how changes in quality over time, as well as the relation of quality to teacher and classroom characteristics and child outcomes, may be related to varying policy requirements. Our discussant, a national expert on ECE quality improvement and the factors shaping it, will consider the implications of these findings for future national and state policy recommendations.

Sub Unit

• Social Policy

Chair

• Louisa Tarullo, Mathematica Policy Research

Discussant

• Martha Zaslow, Society for Research in Child Development

Individual Presentations

• Tracking Quality and Outcomes in Head Start Classrooms: FACES 2006 to FACES 2014 - Presenting Author: Nikki Aikens, Mathematica Policy Research; Philip Gleason, Mathematica Policy Research; Lizabeth Malone, Mathematica Policy Research; Louisa Tarullo, Mathematica Policy Research; Charles Bush, Mathematica Policy Research; Nina Philipsen Hetzner, Administration for Children and Families

• Trends in Quality and Outcomes: Results from the NC Pre-K and Georgia’s Pre-K Evaluations - Presenting Author: Ellen Peisner-Feinberg, FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Irina L Mokrova, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Changes in Environmental and Teaching Quality Over Time in Educare Centers - Presenting Author: Sandra Soliday Hong, University of North Carolina; Noreen Yazejian, FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Margaret Burchinal, UNC Chapel Hill; Maia Connors, Ounce of Prevention Fund