Towards a Whole Setting Perspective on Program Quality and Children’s Development: Evidence from Preschool and Kindergarten Classrooms Across Massachusetts

• In Event: What Really Matters in Early Education Classrooms? Probing Classroom-Level and Individual Supports for Child Development

Abstract

Early education programs have the potential to promote children’s academic, cognitive, social, and emotional development before they start elementary school (Gormley et al., 2011; Weiland & Yoshikawa, 2013). Developmental scientists generally agree that children’s day-to-day experiences and interactions in these programs are central to understanding which programs confer a developmental boost (Hamre, 2014; Hanno, Jones, et al., 2021; Markowitz et al., 2017; Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Consequently, much research has centered on understanding the specific features of high-quality experiences and interactions linked to children’s development (Farran et al., 2017; Mashburn et al., 2008; Pianta & Hamre, 2009). However, associations between the field’s commonly identified quality features and children’s development are often small in magnitude and inconsistently observed (Guerrero-Rosada et al., 2021; Hanno et al., 2020; McDoniel et al., 2022). A potential explanation for these inconclusive findings is a primary focus on isolating associations between individual quality features and specific child outcomes, as opposed to adopting approaches that recognize the complex, interrelated, and multifaceted nature of children’s development and high-quality early education settings.

In this paper, we adopt a “whole child” and “whole setting” perspective on children’s development within early education settings to advance our understanding of developmentally-supportive, high-quality early education programs. Using setting observation and direct child assessment data collected in 2018 and 2019 during the first two waves of the Early Learning Study (ELS), a population-based study of early education in one state, we use a multi-dimensional, latent profile-based approach to identify groups of preschool and kindergarten classrooms characterized by distinct patterns of observed quality features. Specifically, we draw on data collected using the Child and Teacher Observation in Preschool protocols (COP-TOP; Bilbrey et al., 2007; Farran & Anthony, 2014) in 1,317 classrooms. The COP-TOP is a new observation tool that captures the so-called “Magic 8” features thought to reflect the moment-to-moment realities of high-quality environments (e.g., time spent in math, teacher tone). Table 1 presents descriptive statistics of observed classrooms. We next examine how patterns of quality features vary across grade levels (preschool and kindergarten) and across provider types (community-based center, family child care, Head Start, public school, and private school settings). Finally, we consider how the patterns of quality features children experience in these early education settings relate to their mathematics, language, literacy, executive function, and social and emotional development.

Preliminary latent profile analyses of eight quality features from the COP-TOP indicate three profiles of classrooms (Figure 1). Profiles 1 and 3 represent settings with numerous strengths on quality indicators, whereas Profile 2 represents settings with relative weaknesses on the quality indicators. Whereas Profile 3 includes classrooms with relative strengths on traditional academic and cognitive-related aspects of quality (e.g., time in math), Profile 1 includes classrooms with relative strengths on social and emotional aspects of quality (e.g., educator tone). This finding highlights that “high-quality” classrooms are heterogeneous, often reflecting varied strengths. The final presentation will discuss complete classroom and child-level analyses, as well as implications for policy and practice to improve children’s experiences in early childhood.

Authors

• Stephanie M Jones, Harvard Graduate School of Education
  Presenting Author

• Emily Hanno, MDRC (Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation) - New York City

• Katie Gonzalez, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Nonie Lesaux, Harvard Graduate School of Education