Poster #115 - Introducing the Early Years Library: Informing High Quality ECE Using a Common Elements Methodology

• In Event: Poster Session 01

Abstract

High-quality early childhood education (ECE) can have a positive impact on children’s outcomes and can help mitigate the effects of disadvantage, by equipping children with essential school readiness skills (Melhuish & Gardiner, 2021; Taggart et al., 2015). However, bringing evidence-based programmes to scale poses some challenges. Structured programmes can be perceived as being too top-down or manualised; embedding practices or strategies from such programmes in the early years setting can be difficult; and the costs for comprehensive curricula can limit their use (Embry & Biglan, 2008; Jones & Bouffard, 2012; Jones, Brown & Aber, 2011). Recognising the potential barriers to delivering high-quality ECE, particularly the delivery of evidence-based ECE programmes, our research identifies the core components of evidence-based programmes using a systematic methodology known as the ‘common elements’ approach (Chorpita, Daleiden, & Weisz, 2005). These common elements represent discrete practices, routines, strategies and behaviours that can be integrated into practitioners’ daily interactions with children.
No prior research has identified the common elements of evidence-based ECE programmes addressing children's early literacy, numeracy, metacognition, executive functions and social-emotional skills.
Our systematic search first identified 22 ECE programmes that were developed to enhance numeracy, literacy, cognitive or social-emotional outcomes in 2-5-year-old children and that met effectiveness criteria (e.g. at least one randomized-controlled trial). For each programme, we segmented lessons into a set of core activities. Each core activity was then coded using a codebook to identify the skills taught (e.g. emerging academic skills, cognitive skills, social and emotional skills, language and communication) and the instructional methods (e.g. role play, songs, didactic instruction, teacher modelling, visual display) used.
The data were then analysed quantitatively and qualitatively to identify the skills commonly taught across programme manuals, and the instructional methods used to teach them. We grouped programmes by skills and distilled as 'common elements’ those discrete practices and instructional methods used in more than half of the relevant manuals to teach a given skill.
In total, we identified 55 discrete practice common elements that were shared across ECE: 18 for language and early literacy skills (including, for example, ‘identifying letters of the alphabet’ and ‘identifying lowercase and uppercase letters’), 16 for early numeracy skills (such as ‘properties of shapes’ and ‘recognising numerals’), and 21 for social and emotional skills (such as ‘calming down’ and ‘learning feeling words’). We also identified practices to support five areas of self-regulation, such as ‘being adaptable and flexible’ and ‘planning ahead independently’. For each common element, we also examined the most used instructional methods.
The results were used to co-produce a free resource with a group of practitioners, called the Early Years Library (downloadable from the Early Intervention Foundation website), which includes 15 booklets across four areas of early years learning: language & early literacy; early numeracy; and social & emotional skills; and self-regulation skills. Each booklet describes evidence-informed practices, routines, strategies and behaviours that can be integrated into practitioners’ daily interactions with children to support high quality early childhood education.

Authors

• Sara Baker, University of Cambridge
  Presenting Author

• Virginia Ghiara

• Janina Eberhart, University of Tübingen

• Helen Burridge

• Pippa Davie

• Aleisha Clarke