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Thresholds In Micro-Features Of Process Quality In Early Education And Care

Thu, April 8, 1:10 to 2:40pm EDT (1:10 to 2:40pm EDT), Virtual

Abstract

Decades of research indicates the importance of classroom and program quality in early education and care settings for children’s early development (Mashburn et al., 2008). Recent research has examined whether quality features are more strongly associated with children’s outcomes above (or below) meaningful thresholds. These studies have often focused on widely-used global measures of process quality (Burchinal et al., 2010; Burchinal et al., 2016). More recently, researchers have also begun to examine micro-features of process quality (Farran et al., 2017). However, little is known about whether the associations between these micro-features of quality and children’s outcomes differ across higher- and lower-quality settings. The current study addresses this gap by examining whether there are there thresholds in the associations between micro-features of quality and children’s academic, language, and social-emotional skills.

Methods

The present study includes 1,676 three- and four-year-olds and 423 early education providers, from a large-scale longitudinal study of young children in Massachusetts. Providers included community center-based care, public school prekindergarten, Head Start, and family child care settings. Quality was measured using the Teacher and Child Observation in Preschool (TOP/COP), which captures adult- and child-driven micro-features of process quality (Farran & Anthony, 2014). We focus on three practices: instructional quality, teacher tone, and child involvement. Child outcomes include direct assessments of children’s academic, language, and social-emotional skills.

We used a multi-step process to examine thresholds in the associations between micro-features of quality and children’s outcomes. First, we use an a priori approach to examine whether there are differences in the associations between micro-features of quality and child outcomes at different ranges of quality. Specifically, we estimated piecewise linear regression predicting child outcomes as a function of quality. Second, we used an empirical approach to identify the locations of thresholds in the associations between quality and child outcomes. Specifically, we estimated a series a series of b-spline regression models predicting child outcomes as a function of quality.

Results

Results indicate several non-linear associations between the micro-features of quality and child outcomes. We find that instructional was more strongly associated with children’s literacy skills and executive function at higher levels of quality. For example, instructional quality was not associated with children’s beginning sound awareness at levels of quality below the sample median (primarily low-level instruction). However, we observed a positive association at levels of quality above the sample median (including more basic skills instruction and inferential learning). Child involvement was also more strongly associated with children’s literacy skills and executive function at higher levels of quality. Educator tone was also more strongly associated with executive function and social-emotional skills at higher levels of quality. However, associations between educator tone and children’s math, literacy, and language skills were strongest at medium, rather than high, ranges of quality.

Understanding thresholds in the associations between micro-features of quality and children’s outcomes can inform our understanding of mechanisms through which these environments support children’s longer-term outcomes. We will discuss implications of this work for early education and care policy.
 

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