Is educators’ years of experience in early childhood education and care settings associated with child outcomes? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Despite extensive study, there is little consensus about the relationship between educators’ years of experience in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings and children's outcomes. Our goal was to systematically review and meta-analyze the literature on educators’ years of experience and children's outcomes defined broadly. Three electronic databases (Medline, ERIC, PsycINFO), reference sections of eligible studies, and websites of large datasets were searched for studies published until February 5th, 2018. Studies that provided a statistical analysis of the association between educators’ years of experience and child outcomes for preschool-aged children in ECEC settings were included. Two independent reviewers screened titles, abstracts, and full publications for relevance and extracted data from all studies retrieved from our search. Thirty-two studies (based on 28,038 different children, and over 4000 educators) were included in the systematic review. Operationalization of educators’ years of experience varied across studies. Over 100 different measures were used to assess child outcomes across studies. Meta-analyses were conducted for receptive vocabulary, letter identification, numerical problem solving, positive behavior, and social skills and problem behavior. All were nonsignificant. Results from the systematic review also showed very few and weak associations between educators’ years of experience and child outcomes. Findings were unrelated to a series of moderators explored. Our findings do not provide empirical support for use of educator years of experience as a quality indicator in the oversight of ECEC programs. More research that takes into consideration the multi-faceted, complex and dynamic nature of ECEC services is very much needed.