Social-Emotional Outcomes Among In-Person and Remote Learners in Early Head Start During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Parenting stress and children’s socio-emotional outcomes in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in dynamic shifts to education throughout the world and especially in early care and education. Parents reported that the pandemic had a negative impact on daily routines and behaviors, as well as, in social emotional skills (Smith & Gonzalez, 2021). Exposure to multiple disadvantages, experienced by those living in poverty or very low incomes, job or housing insecurity, and rural or remote communities may be at greater risk for poorer health and developmental outcomes. Indigenous communities have long been disproportionately affected by systemic inequities and the pandemic was no different. The present cross-sectional study examines the influence the COVID-19 pandemic had on children’s social emotional skills for in-person and remote learners, and whether the center’s social emotional curriculum/strategies aided in skill building. It was expected that children who attended in-person for the full year would have better social emotional outcomes that children who participated in remote learning.

Participants included 51 Early Head Start (EHS) children (24 females; 98% Native American), and eight members of the teaching staff/leadership team (50% Native American) at a high-quality early childhood education center (ECE) in a midwestern state. For children who attended in-person learning (n=41; 18 females) EHS Teaching teams completed the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA, year) in the fall and spring of the 2020-2021 school year. Children who received early education services remote (n=10; 6 females) received a DECA score that was completed by parents with scaffolding/assistance from teachers. A focus group was held with ECE teachers and school leadership to qualitatively explore whether their social emotional curriculum and strategies buffered the effects of the COVID shutdown, and if/how both influenced teaching practices and parent engagement.

The results found that children who attended in-person programming experienced significant increases in average scores from fall to spring in: Attachment [t(40) =-3.76, p<.001], Self-Control [t(24) =-1.74, p=.04], and Total Protective Factor Scores [t(40) =-3.76, p=.02]. Children who received remote learning services experienced no significant increase in DECA scores, but did experience a significant decrease in Attachment scores from fall (m to spring [t(9) =2.24, p=.03]. Qualitative analyses of teacher and leadership focus groups revealed five common themes including common language, respect/appreciation for profession, established connection/relationship, link from school to home, and opportunity for interaction. In addition, both groups indicated that the sitewide use of the social emotional curriculum and strategies provided a concrete connection between school and home which aided the ease of transition from home to school learning and helped strengthen relationships between teachers and family. Leadership and teachers suggested that the curriculum has helped classroom teachers build children’s skills and decrease in classroom negative behaviors.

The results from the current study reinforce the importance of consistent high-quality ECE and offers insight surrounding the benefits of long-term use of a social-emotional specific curriculum. The implications of the results will be discussed in relation to the research surrounding ECE programming, social emotional outcomes, and curriculum use (e.g., Ashdown & Bernard, 2012).

Authors

• Amy Encinger, University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC)
  Presenting Author

• Amy Lapointe

• Peggy LaRose

• Sarah Baird

• Brittney Stansberry