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A Tale of Two Curricula: Variations in Implementation of Quality Interventions (VIQI) Pilot Implementation Insights

Fri, April 9, 10:00 to 11:30am EDT (10:00 to 11:30am EDT), Virtual

Abstract

A convergence of evidence underscores that the quality of children’s early care and education (ECE) experiences is critical for promoting children’s development (Gormley, Phillips, & Gayer, 2008). However, there is considerable variation in the effectiveness of ECE programming (e.g., Bloom & Weiland, 2015), and more research that examines program implementation across different settings is critical to understand how to implement effective ECE programs at scale (Hsueh, Halle, & Maier, 2020).

This presentation focuses on a large-scale pilot phase of the Variations in Implementation of Quality Interventions (VIQI) project, which aims to build evidence about how different dimensions of classroom quality support children’s learning by testing two curricula – Creative Curriculum (CC) and Connect4Learning (C4L) – with professional development (PD) for preschool teachers. We examine program implementation of these two theoretically distinct curricular and PD models, hypothesized to promote different dimensions of quality, activities and content in ECE classrooms. The presentation will discuss: (1) How were the interventions implemented in terms of dosage of activity settings (e.g., small group) and content (skill domain), and the quality of implementation? and (2) how does implementation vary by factors such as intervention, auspice (Head Start vs. community-based child care), and initial levels of classroom quality?

Sample. Forty-three Head Start and community-based child care centers serving predominantly low-income children across three localities were randomly assigned to receive one of the curricular and PD approaches or business-as-usual. Participating classrooms (N=124) served 3- and 4-year-old children.

Method. Implementation data were collected via online coach logs and site visits. Coach logs were collected bi-weekly from September 2018 through May 2019. Site visits were conducted by coaches (fall, spring) and research staff (winter). See Table 1 for constructs of interest by data source. Descriptive statistics were conducted to examine levels and variation in implementation measures by intervention condition, auspice, and initial quality. Given the small sample, we compared intervention conditions by examining effect size differences instead of statistical tests.

Results. Preliminary descriptive results suggest each curriculum changed activity settings and content in ways hypothesized, showing moderate to large effect size differences between C4L and CC (see Table 2). We saw more small group, math and science content in C4L classrooms, and more art/music and fine/gross motor content in CC classrooms. Head Start classrooms implemented fewer activities and less content overall, compared with child care centers. The treatment contrast between CC and C4L appears to be larger in child care. Regarding quality, we found evidence for stronger instructional quality in C4L classrooms, as hypothesized, but no evidence for stronger structural or process quality, on average, in CC classrooms as expected. Implementation of activities, content, and quality indicators tended to be lower in lower initial quality classrooms than higher initial quality classrooms. The presentation also will discuss implementation insights from site visits as well as challenges of implementing these curricula and implications of these findings for a full-scale phase. This work adds to our understanding of how ECE curricula are implemented in real-world settings and factors that influence implementation.

Authors