Abstract
Home learning environments prior to school are well-known predictors of educational trajectories but research has neglected children aged under three. The new Toddler Home Learning Environment (THLE) scale is one response and this paper investigates its reliability and validity. The THLE is an adaptation of the Preschool HLE (PHLE) measure developed by the Effective Pre-School Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE) investigation in the 1990s. The THLE was developed as part of the Evaluation of Children’s Centers in England (ECCE) investigation that followed a sample of 2,608 of families from 14 to 38 months. The THLE was administered at 14 months, the PHLE at 38. The 8-item THLE evidences internal consistency via statistical reliability coefficients and Confirmatory Factor Analysis plus measurement validity via statistically significant and research-appropriate associations with the PHLE, three measures of child development, and child and parent demographics. This paper moves the HLE literature forward with a new parental self-report scale of the HLE that is for use with toddlers.
Highlights
Informed by social-constructivist theories (e.g. Bruner 1978; Vygotsky, 1978) and ecological theories (e.g. Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006) of learning and child development, the Home Learning Environment (HLE) that surrounds children and young people has been subject to extensive study and measurement
With a Toddler Home Learning Environment (THLE) scale developed from indicative items and demonstrating internal consistency, Stage two of the analysis considered the measurement validity of the THLE through statistical procedures that made use of other measures collected by the Evaluation of Children’s Centers in England (ECCE) researchers and that built on past published work (Sammons et al, 2015a) showing the THLE as a significant predictor of child cognition and behavior at mean age 38 months
Item-Level Analysis Further considering the descriptive statistics presented in Table 1, the medians and distributions of the THLE items and toddler television watching items demonstrated that these items were
Summary
Informed by social-constructivist theories (e.g. Bruner 1978; Vygotsky, 1978) and ecological theories (e.g. Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006) of learning and child development, the Home Learning Environment (HLE) that surrounds children and young people has been subject to extensive study and measurement (see Lehrl et al, 2020). A well-established and robust international evidence base exists (and continues to grow; e.g Melhuish et al, 2008; Bonci et al, 2011; Romeo et al, 2018) that attests to the long-term and sizable positive impacts of the HLE upon educational trajectories, educational equity, and long-term developmental outcomes Jeynes, 2005; Son and Morrison, 2010; Sammons et al, 2015b; Shuey and Kankaras, 2018). The HLE in the preschool years is important because it can have: 1. Effects on attainment that are above and beyond those associated with social disadvantage The potential to partially attenuate the detrimental effects of social disadvantage on developmental and educational outcomes The potential to partially attenuate the detrimental effects of social disadvantage on developmental and educational outcomes (e.g. Ramey and Ramey, 2004)
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