SRI’s evaluation of a 2-year professional development (PD) intervention for PreK to 3 rd grade teachers found that high-quality PD focusing on teachers’ instructional practices and pedagogical content knowledge, as well as their dispositions toward math, can lead to significant changes in teacher behavior across preK and early elementary grades.
In partnership with the Erikson Institute Early Math Collaborative, SRI evaluated the impact of teachers’ participation in a 2-year professional development (PD) intervention to improve teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and instructional practice in math across prekindergarten (preK) to third grade classrooms in the city of Chicago. Compared to teachers receiving business as usual PD, participation in Erikson’s Whole-Teacher PD led to robust changes in teacher practices after 1 year and were sustained at the 4-year follow-up observations. Intervention teachers also reported higher confidence in their ability to use high-quality math instructional practices after completing the 2-year PD compared to business-as-usual teachers. Limited impacts on student learning were observed. The findings suggest high-quality PD focusing on teachers’ instructional practices and pedagogical content knowledge, as well as their dispositions toward math, can lead to significant changes in teacher behavior across preK and early elementary grades.
Erika Gaylor
SRI Author
Virginia Preschool Initiative Plus (VPI+) Final Evaluation Report
The Virginia Preschool Initiative Plus (VPI+) was designed to provide 4-year-old children from low-income families with access to high-quality prekindergarten programs. The Virginia Department of Education contracted with SRI International to evaluate the implementation and impacts of the VPI+ program. SRI researchers found that attending VPI+ had a positive impact on children’s academic and behavioral skills, with the largest impact on literacy skills. In the year between enrolling in VPI+ and beginning kindergarten, participating children developed more than 15 months of mathematics skills and more than 20 months of literacy skills within a 12-month time frame. To learn more about the implementation and impacts of the VPI+ program, please see the full report.
Who gets what? Describing the non‐supervisory training and supports received by home visiting staff members and its relationship with turnover
The early childhood home visiting field lacks a basic understanding of home visiting program staff members’ receipt of on‐the‐job training from experts outside of their programs who are not their immediate colleagues or supervisors. To address this gap, we created a unique dataset by asking program leaders to log the external technical assistance (TA) that staff members received, and we collected a survey from 288 of the same staff members. We performed descriptive analyses to learn how many hours of TA staff members were receiving, what topics the TA most commonly addressed, and what formats (e.g., in‐person or virtual/remote, individual, or group) the TA was most commonly provided in. We then associated characteristics of the TA received with staff and program characteristics, as well as with staff members’ turnover. Multilevel analyses showed the TA supports that home visiting staff members received differed by role (home visitor or supervisor) and program characteristics, including home visiting model—Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) or Parents as Teachers (PAT)—program size, and maturity. About 23% of the home visiting staff members left their programs over the course of 18 months. PAT staff members were more likely to leave their programs than NFP staff members. We did not find that characteristics of TA received were predictive of staff members’ turnover. Implications and the need for further research are discussed.
Chicago’s Pay for Success Program Evaluation: Year 3
IFF is the project coordinator and financial intermediary for Chicago’s first Pay for Success (PFS) program. Launched in 2014, the PFS program is an innovative public-private partnership that expands Chicago Public Schools’ Child-Parent Center (CPC) program, making it possible for more than 2,600 kids and their families to benefit from CPC’s high-quality early childhood and parent engagement services.
For each year of the program, SRI International, the program’s independent evaluator, releases a report of student performance across kindergarten readiness, special education utilization, and third-grade literacy. Here are all existing reporting materials:
Year 3 Reporting Materials
Released April 2018
Report on Year Three (2016-17)
Addendum by Chicago Public Schools and the City of Chicago
Report Summary and Program Fact Sheet
Success Payment Calculation
Year 2 Reporting Materials
Released April 2017
Report on Year Two (2015-16)
Addendum by Chicago Public Schools and the City of Chicago
Report Summary and Program Fact Sheet
Success Payment Calculation
Year 1 Reporting Materials
Released April 2016
Report on Year One (2014-15)
Report Summary and Program Fact Sheet
Independent Evaluation of the Midwest CPC Expansion Project: Final Report
Funded by an i3 validation grant from the U.S. Department of Education, SRI conducted an independent evaluation of the Midwest Expansion of the Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program using a quasi-experimental design. Findings include strong implementation of CPC model components but very few differences on children’s school readiness skills.
Funded by an Investing in Innovation (i3) validation grant from the U.S. Department of Education, SRI conducted an independent evaluation of the Midwest Expansion of the Child-Parent Center (CPC) Program using a quasi-experimental design. The University of Minnesota, collaborating with four school districts, implemented a revised version of the CPC program. SRI’s evaluation documented implementation of the six program components across the schools in four districts. Overall, the findings demonstrate that most CPC schools implemented the CPC model with good fidelity in the first 2 years. When researchers compared kindergarten outcomes of students in CPC schools to students in comparison schools, they found a consistent positive outcome of the CPC program model on students’ early literacy as measured by standardized assessments. No other significant effects were found at kindergarten entry. Unfortunately, the evaluation team was not able to assess the model’s impact on longer term outcomes of students in second and third grade.
Toddler naps in child care: Associations with demographics and developmental outcomes
Objectives: The objectives were to characterize the rate, duration, and factors associated with napping in a large, nationally representative sample of toddlers attending child care.
Design: We analyzed a subset of data from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort, including parent report, caregiver report, and observational measures.
Participants: Data were limited to the 3050 participants reporting that their 2-year-old routinely spent greater than 1 hour per week in nonparental child care.
Measurements: Interviews were completed to measure child care type (relative, nonrelative, center-based), demographics, bedtime characteristics (eg, presence of a bedtime routine, assistance needed to fall asleep), and naptime. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development—Research Edition was used to measure child outcomes.
Results: Napping was reported to occur in 91% of 2-year-olds, with most naps reported to last 2 hours. Significant racial and ethnic differences were found in nap duration, with black children napping longer and Latino children napping shorter than white children, controlling for socioeconomic status and sex. Children cared for by relatives had longer naps than those in nonrelative child care. There were no significant relationships between naps and child outcomes.
Conclusions: Results highlight racial and ethnic differences in daytime napping duration and interesting differences in nap duration in different child care settings. Child care providers may use these results to adopt appropriate expectations, policies, and practices for 2-year-old napping.
Early childhood language interventions: An illustration of the model demonstration process
In administering the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) pursues a mission of
“improving results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities ages birth through 21, by providing leadership and financial support to assist states and local districts” (U.S. Department of Education, 2007, p. 13485). An important part of that pursuit is the Research to Practice Division’s technical assistance, model demonstration, and dissemination activities. This project brief summarizes the characteristics, implementation experiences, and outcomes achieved by one of OSEP’s investments in model demonstration activities—a cohort of three grantees that demonstrated various approaches to implementing early childhood language interventions that targeted children with significant language disorders or delays and who were eligible for early intervention services.
Attention and Hyperactivity Symptoms at Kindergarten Entry Associated with Less Sleep in Preschool
Objective: To assess the association between sleep and attention and hyperactivity symptoms in preschool children. Study Design: We conducted secondary analysis of data from the preschool and kindergarten waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) study. The ECLS-B dataset includes a contemporary, representative sample of children and their families living in the United States and followed longitudinally. The sample consisted of approximately 6,860 children who had data on the variables of interest across the preschool and kindergarten waves. Parent-reported bedtime and wake time, obtained via interview at both time points, were used to calculate total nighttime sleep duration. Parents were also asked to rate their children’s behavior on brief measures of attention/task persistence and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Results: We performed two sets of regression analyses to identify whether (a) sleep duration in preschool-age children predicts attention and hyperactivity at kindergarten entry and (b) attention and hyperactivity symptoms at preschool predict sleep duration at kindergarten. Each analysis controlled for the outcome of interest at the preschool time point, as well as gender, ethnicity and family income. Less sleep at preschool significantly predicted worse parent-reported hyperactivity (β = -0.06, P < .02) and attention at kindergarten (β = 0.06, P < .01). Conversely, parent-reported attention and hyperactivity at preschool did not predict parent-reported sleep duration at kindergarten (attention: β = 0.04, P = .09; hyperactivity: β = -.01, ns). Conclusions : Short sleep duration may contribute to the development or worsening of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity during early childhood, or may serve as an early warning sign of emerging behavioral difficulties.
