Quality of Early Childhood Education and Children's Development in Colombian Pre-Schools

• In Event: 1-106 - Disparities in Early Childhood Education: Three observational approaches to literacy achievement and development

Integrative Statement

Extensive literature and empirical evidence over the last decades show that early childhood education (ECE) matters for children’s development and has the potential to diminish inequalities associated with their socioeconomic origin. Within this literature; there is a general agreement that both structural and process variables define quality. Structural quality has traditionally received more attention as it refers to aspects that are more easily quantified. However, most existing quality measures and studies come from high-income countries. In Colombia, ECE programs have engaged in efforts to measure and enhance both structural and process quality aiming to address the growing gaps in academic achievement that children from low-income families cope and increase their likelihood of academic attainment.

This study strengthens knowledge of the association between quality of ECE and children’s development in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) by combining observational measures of interactions that occur in the classroom with structural characteristics of centers and classrooms. The sample for this study consisted of 312 centers randomly selected to be a nationally representative sample of the institutional modality in Colombia. Within each center, we randomly selected a classroom of children aged 3 to 4 years and a classroom of children aged 4 to 5 years for a total of 597 classrooms. From these classrooms, we randomly selected 3,687 children stratified by gender (50.5% girls; mean age = 4.36, SD = .64). This paper shows evidence collected with the Instrument for Measuring the Quality of Early Childhood Education in Colombia (IMCEIC), which collects information on structural and process quality through a classroom observation guide, and questionnaires for the center coordinator, teachers and parents. Children’s developmental measures were collected with the IDELA tool (i.e., mathematics (α=.87), language (α=.75), socio-emotional skills (α=.73), motor development (α=.87) and executive functions (α=.84)). A scale was generated to assess instructional quality in the classroom (α=.77). In addition, an index of learning materials available in the classroom was constructed (e.g., costumes for role-playing games, building blocks, books). We estimated multilevel regression models to describe the association between classroom structural and process quality and children’s early development.

Our results show that children’s participation in activities in which new vocabulary is presented and used is associated with higher average scores in language, social and emotional skills and motor skills. Also, children’s participation in activities in which numbers are used to count were associated with higher average scores in logical-mathematical reasoning and language. Furthermore, activities related to expression through visual arts were associated with higher average scores in language, motor skills, and executive functions. Instructional quality within the classrooms was also associated with higher average scores of logical-mathematical reasoning and language as well as executive functions, and having more learning materials available for children to use was positively associated with motor development. Implications of these results are discussed in relation to policy efforts to ensure high-quality learning environments that foster children’s early development and reduce developmental inequalities associated with their socioeconomic origin.

Group Authors

Directorate of Early Childhood – MEN (Ministry of Education, Colombia)

Authors

• Carolina Maldonado-Carreno, Universidad de Los Andes
  Presenting Author

• Maria Catalina Rey Guerra, Universidad de los Andes
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jorge Armando Cuartas Ricaurte, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Tatiana Plata-Caviedes, Universidad de Los Andes
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jesus Rodríguez De Luque, Universidad de Los Andes
  Non-Presenting Author

• Eduardo Escallon-Largacha, Universidad de Los Andes
  Non-Presenting Author

• Hirokazu Yoshikawa, New York University
  Non-Presenting Author