High-quality Early Childhood Education Research Articles

Cultivating young minds: Exploring the relationship between child socio-emotional competence, early childhood education and care quality, creativity and self-directed learning

Creativity and self-directed learning (SDL) have been identified as two key skills that children need to develop for success in the 21st century. As such, developing such skills has become a priority. High quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) can play a pivotal role in supporting a myriad of children's developmental outcomes. This study uses multi-level modeling on 484 children between 30 and 75 months of age (Mean age = 48) across 87 ECEC classrooms in Toronto. We tested associations between two skills (creativity and SDL), children's social and emotional competence (hyperactivity, prosocial behaviour, and emotional problems) and ECEC quality (professional development, ratios and emotional support). We found significant relationships between children's social and emotional outcomes and their creativity skills, but not their SDL. In addition, the proportion of professional development opportunities conducted onsite was positively associated with children's creativity. Implications for future research, policy and practice are discussed. Educational relevance statementThis study contributes to the understanding of how to support two skills needed in the wake of the fourth industrial revolution. First, we examine the relationship between children's social and emotional development and their creativity and self-directed learning. We then examine the role played by the quality of their early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings as contexts to learn these important skills when accounting for their children's social and emotional development. Finally, we test the robustness of these associations by controlling for important contextual factors (age, months in the program, family income, and maternal education).

The impact of early childhood education and medical care on children

Causal inference is a statistical approach that aims to understand and quantify the causal relationship between variables, allowing us to determine the impact of one variable on another while accounting for potential confounding factors. In this study, we chose the Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP) dataset to test whether high-quality early childhood education and medical care will enhance their cognitive and academic ability. We use some common and classic algorithms to achieve this study by calculating the CATE (Conditional Average Treatment Effect) of the dataset; if the result is a negative number, that means early treatment doesn’t improve children’s further ability; if the result is a positive number, that means treatment improves it. After fitting the targeted models, BART(Bayesian Additive Regression Trees) and Metalearners, into this dataset, we found out that all the models will get positive CATE, which means that these early treatments positively affect children’s future development. Also, we can judge which model gives us a more accurate result according to the standard variance of TE(treatment effect). The result of this study will provide us with an insightful idea about whether we should give children some treatments regarding education and medical care and which model is more suitable for this casual inference test.

Parental/Caregiver Engagement in Early Learning Systems: Findings From Early Learning Partnership (ELP) COVID-19 Research in Pakistan and Ethiopia

ABSTRACT Caregiver support has been identified as a key feature of systems that deliver high-quality early childhood education. The purpose of this study is to explore the degree of engagement of parents/caregivers of preschool children and the modes of learning they used in Ethiopia and Pakistan in supporting their children through home learning during school closures caused by the COVID−19 pandemic. This study is based on a phone survey of over 450 parents and 48 head teachers teachers in Ethiopia and more than 2,000 parents and over 150 head teachers and teachers in Pakistan between August 2020-March 2021. The study finds differences in the level of engagement of caregivers with young children in the two contexts, with more of the sampled caregivers reporting engaging with their children in Pakistan than in Ethiopia. There was also relatively little reported engagement of headteachers and teachers in both contexts, with much of the focus resting on the maintenance of hygiene and keeping children and families safe while learning took a backseat to some degree. There are clear differences in the use of distance learning with parents from richer socioeconomic backgrounds in both contexts better able to engage their children in high-tech learning solutions.

Taking a detailed look at early childhood educators’ worktime

Despite the acknowledged complexity and time pressures of early childhood educators’ work, very few studies have examined the nature of this work, minute-by-minute, over the working day. This paper reports on data gathered through 10,155 time-use diary (TUD) records provided by 321 educators participating in the Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work Australian Research Council Linkage Project. Participants were recruited from preschool/kindergarten and long day care centres that had achieved a rating of Exceeding the Australian National Quality Standard on all seven Quality Areas. Analyses of this extensive dataset illustrate the rhythm and diversity of educators’ work across a typical day and identify the similarities and differences in worktime distributions for educators working in preschool vs. long day care settings, and for educators with different qualifications and positional responsibilities. The findings suggest differential allocations of worktime that raise important considerations for achieving high quality early childhood education and care services.

Can a Brief Professional Development Improve Early Childhood Educators’ Responsivity and Interaction Quality in Child Care Centers? A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

ABSTRACT High-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) – particularly care defined by highly responsive interactions between educators and children – has the potential to have lasting positive impacts on children’s development. While there is variability in the level of quality among early education and care settings, professional development for early childhood educators has been shown to be an effective means to improve both ECEC quality and child outcomes. As many professional development programs are time and resource intensive, we sought out to test the efficacy of a brief (5 hr) professional development program that included a workshop, individual coaching, video feedback and text messaging. Research Findings: Results of a cluster randomized controlled trial with 93 educators indicated that the program improved educators’ responsivity three-months after intervention (d = 0.60, p = .035), but not classroom-wide levels of emotional support or instructional quality. Trend analysis revealed the greatest improvements occurred after the workshop and first coaching session and leveled off over time. Practice or Policy: Preliminary evidence suggests brief professional development programs may improve interaction quality with effect sizes comparable to those of longer programs. Well-powered studies using multiple arms or sequential randomization will help optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of professional development.

Using Data Tools and Systems to Drive Change in Early Childhood Education for Disadvantaged Children in South Africa.

In line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.2, South Africa's National Development Plan commits to providing high-quality early childhood education to all children by 2030 to drive improved child outcomes. Prior to 2016, South Africa lacked reliable, locally standardised, valid, and cross-culturally fair assessment tools for measuring preschool quality and child outcomes, suitable for use at scale within a resource-constrained context. In this paper we detail the development and evolution of a suite of early learning measurement (ELOM) tools designed to address this measurement gap. The development process included reviews of literature and other relevant assessment tools; a review of local curriculum standards and expected child outcomes; extensive consultation with government officials, child development experts, and early learning practitioners, iterative user testing; and assessment of linguistic, cultural, functional, and metric equivalence across all 11 official South African languages. To support use of the ELOM tools at scale, and by users with varying levels of research expertise, administration is digitised and embedded within an end-to-end data value chain. ELOM data collected since 2016 quantify the striking socio-economic gradient in early childhood development in South Africa, demonstrate the relationship between physical stunting, socio-emotional functioning and learning outcomes, and provide evidence of the positive impact of high-quality early learning programmes on preschool child outcomes. To promote secondary analyses, data from multiple studies are regularly collated into a shared dataset, which is made open access via an online data portal. We describe the services and support that make up the ELOM data value chain, noting several key challenges and enablers of data-driven change within this context. These include deep technical expertise within a multidisciplinary and collaborative team, patient and flexible capital from mission-aligned investors, a fit-for-purpose institutional home, the appropriate use of technology, a user-centred approach to development and testing, sensitivity to children's diverse linguistic and socio-economic circumstances, careful consideration of requirements for scale, appropriate training and support for a non-professional assessor base, and a commitment to ongoing learning and continuous enhancement. Practical examples are provided of ways in which the ELOM tools and data are used for programme monitoring and enhancement purposes, to evaluate the relative effectiveness of early learning interventions, to motivate for greater budget and inform more effective resource allocation, to support the development of enabling Government systems, and to track progress towards the attainment of national and global development goals. We share lessons learnt during the development of the tools and discuss the factors that have driven their uptake in South Africa.

Using professional learning to foster distributed leadership and equity of voice and promote higher quality in Early childhood education

ABSTRACTHigh-quality early childhood education (ECE) can improve children’s educational trajectories. However, the ECE field globally faces challenges that compromise its quality, with COVID-19 childcare closures further intensifying complexities. One solution to improve ECE working conditions is to use a distributed leadership framework to create professional learning opportunities that enhance staff interactions and equity of voice (staff input/investment). Limited research has explored this approach in relation to key outcomes like staff satisfaction, staff retention and classroom quality. The current study filled this gap by examining a job-embedded professional development initiative in the United States, Flamingo Early Learning (FEL). Using a distributive leadership framework, FEL was implemented in two cohorts of 18 ECE programme and 416 educators. Quantitative analyses of FEL online course data from 108 educators showed improvement in content knowledge. Classroom observation data from 64 educators revealed enhanced teacher-child interaction quality. Qualitative analyses of focus groups with 17 educators highlighted increased equity of voice, barriers to achieving the initiative’s goals and lingering effects of COVID-19. Findings were further examined in relation to staff role. Recommendations include using policy-driven initiatives to iteratively develop and evaluate professional learning models that promote distributed leadership and thereby greater ECE educator empowerment, satisfaction and practice.

Teachers’ Pedagogical Competence in Finnish Early Childhood Education—A Narrative Literature Review

Finnish early childhood education (ECE) is defined in education policies and research as an activity with an emphasis on pedagogy as a holistic and Nordic model of education. Pedagogical competence can be viewed as a special expertise of teachers responsible for the implementation of pedagogy in ECE. However, it is unclear how a teacher’s pedagogical competence is defined, understood, and implemented in pedagogical practices and policies. Previous studies define pedagogical competence from different, often narrow, perspectives and various skills have been defined to be a part of teachers’ pedagogical expertise. In this study, we aim to take a closer look at how teachers’ pedagogical competence is defined in research literature in Finland. As our method, we use a narrative literature review of research papers published between 2010 and 2020. We were able to identify fourteen different definitions of pedagogical competencies that could be categorized into three main categories: (a) meta-competencies, (b) professional competencies, and (c) practical competencies. In summary, we argue that pedagogical competence is often narrowly understood. To implement high-quality ECE, teachers’ pedagogical competence should be considered broadly and wholly. Particularly, the shared values and reflection of ethical questions are essential for supporting children’s development and learning through holistic education.

Characteristics of high-quality early childhood education and care: a study from Australia

Characteristics of high-quality early childhood education and care: a study from Australia

The Exploring Teacher-Family Partnerships in Infant Center-based Care

Teacher-family partnership are elements of high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC). Nevertheless, the need for better understanding such partnerships and factors influencing it particularly for children under three is underlined. This study compares teachers’ and mothers’ reports regarding real and ideal partnership practices, exploring child, ECEC and family level predictors of partnership. Mothers and teachers of 90 infants answered the Real-Ideal Teacher-parents Partnership Scale (Gaspar, 1996). Classroom quality was observed with CLASS-Infants (Hamre et al., 2014); home environment with HOME (Caldwell & Bradley, 1984); child temperament with IBQ (Rothbart, 1981). Results show that both mothers and teachers report a medium-high number of implemented practices. Ideally, they would like a significantly higher number of practices to be implemented. Mothers and teachers report of real and ideal practices were significantly associated. Teachers tend to report more practices than mothers. Teacher qualification was uniquely and positively associated with real partnership practices reported both by teachers and mothers. Teacher qualification was the only statistically significant predictor of ideal practices reported by teachers; mothers’ education predicted mothers’ report on ideal partnerships. Results point to the relevance of teacher qualification for better partnerships, particularly considering the variability of legal requirements regarding teacher qualification in infant classrooms across Europe.

ENHANCING PROFESSIONAL MOTIVATION IN THE EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER EDUCATION: UNRAVELING ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

This qualitative study explores the issues and challenges faced by childhood early teachers in Punjab, Pakistan, in relation to their professional motivation and early childhood teacher education. Phenomenological research design was employed to explore subjective experiences of early childhood teachers in relation to the research problem. A purposive sample of early childhood teachers who have experience teaching in early childhood education setting in Punjab, Pakistan was selected for the study. Semi-structured interviews were used as the primary method of data collection. A qualitative content analysis was employed to identify the themes and patterns within the data through NVIVO 14 software. The study found that early childhood teachers in Punjab, Pakistan face a range of challenges that impact their professional motivation, including inadequate training and professional development opportunities, low salaries, and a lack of recognition and support from the parents and the wider community. The study highlights the need for policy makers in Punjab, to address challenges faced by teachers and to provide them necessary support & resources to enable them to provide high-quality early childhood education.

Educators’ perceptions of Australia’s early childhood education and care quality assurance rating system

ABSTRACT High-quality early childhood education and care is of critical importance to children’s optimal development and wellbeing, and to a nation’s social and economic capital. Consequently, assessing and monitoring quality through regulatory mechanisms has become increasingly significant across the world. Yet, literature pertaining to the impact of regulatory and quality assurance systems is contentious, and there is a paucity of research that has investigated educators’ perceptions of the use and effectiveness of such systems. This article presents findings from a doctoral study that was the first to investigate educators’ perceptions of the Australian quality assessment and rating process. Ball’s theorisation of ‘policy as discourse’, ‘policy as text’ and ‘policy as effects’ provided a conceptual lens to consider the discursive influence of the assessment and rating process on educators’ practice, the limitations of how quality is conceptualised and assessed, and how educators can ‘play the game’ to attain high-quality ratings.

Serving families who face economic and related adversities: the ‘5 As’ of effective ECEC service delivery

IntroductionFamilies with young children who face economic and related adversities are the most likely group to miss out on the advantages of regular sustained participation in high quality early childhood education and care. In Australia, there are an estimated 11% of children assessed by teachers to have two or more developmental vulnerabilities and many of these children are living in economically disadvantaged contexts. Government policy in Australia aspires to provide universal access to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services to support children’s outcomes and ensure workforce participation, but policy falls short of ensuring all families can take up high quality early childhood education and care. Government responses to the Covid crisis saw significant changes to the ECEC policy and funding mechanisms. It is timely therefore to reflect on the level of ‘competence’ in the Australian ECEC systems. Coined this term to refer to a system that is sustainable, inclusive, and effective for all families.MethodsUsing a Delphi methodology, we coalesced the insights of high-level stakeholders who have expertise in delivering services to families experiencing adversities and noted points of consensus and of divergence among these stakeholders. We have taken up the challenge of considering the Australian system from the point of view of families who typically find services hard to use.Results and ConclusionWe put forward a model that frames the characteristics of services that can inclusively engage with families - Approachable, Acceptable, Affordable, Accessible and Appropriate. We argue that more needs to be known about appropriateness and what effective pedagogy looks like on the ground for families and children.

From evidence to practice: implementing effective nutrition and high-quality early childhood education in low resource settings, the successful case of the Guatemala city municipal nurseries

From evidence to practice: implementing effective nutrition and high-quality early childhood education in low resource settings, the successful case of the Guatemala city municipal nurseries

Regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India: evidence from a recent household survey

In India, the National Education Policy 2020 recommends ensuring universal access to high-quality early childhood care and education for children aged 3–6 years by 2030. Using the 75th round of National Statistical Office data (2017–2018), this paper analyses the regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education. Also, we investigate the specific role of households’ economic status and educational attainment in explaining these inequalities. We find considerable regional (rural/urban) and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India, with girls and children belonging to historically disadvantaged social groups (scheduled castes and scheduled tribes) less likely to attend early childhood education, particularly in rural areas. We find that a substantial portion of the rural–urban gap in access to pre-primary education can be removed by controls for households’ economic condition and household head’s educational status. In addition, we find gender and socioeconomic inequalities in the household investment in early years education. These findings highlight the need to put policy efforts and commitments to reducing barriers to accessing pre-primary education for children in disadvantaged conditions in India.

The effect of Universal Teacher–Child Interaction Training on Hispanic teachers’ sense of self-efficacy in early childhood education and care settings

Disparities exist in the availability of high-quality early childhood education and care settings (ECEC) across communities within the United States. Teachers have an imperative role in fostering children’s socioemotional development; however, when the classroom climate deteriorates due to disruptive behavior, meeting these emotional and learning needs becomes more difficult. Dealing with challenging behaviors can lead to emotional exhaustion which is directly linked to a decrease in teacher sense of efficacy. Teacher–Child Interaction Training-Universal (TCIT-U) targets teachers’ skills to provide quality interactions and decrease child behavior problems. Despite evidence that teacher sense of self-efficacy can inhibit negative teaching practices, a lack of research has explored this construct as related to TCIT-U. The current study is a randomized, wait-list control study measuring the change of teachers’ sense of self-efficacy after participating in TCIT-U, and the first known of its kind. The study included mostly Hispanic (96.4%) teachers (N = 84) of ECEC programs across 13 unique sites serving 900 children ages 2–5 years from low-income, urban areas. Results from inferential statistics and hierarchical linear regression tests demonstrated TCIT-U as an effective intervention to improve teachers’ sense of efficacy in classroom management, instructional strategies, and student engagement. In addition, this study contributes to the effectiveness of TCIT-U as an in-service training which targets teacher communication skills for teachers with diverse backgrounds in ECEC settings with mostly dual language learners.

Exploring Swedish preschool teachers' perspectives on applying a self-reflection tool for improving inclusion in early childhood education and care

IntroductionIn order to provide opportunities for high-quality early childhood education and care for each child, inclusive settings need to develop and sustain their potential to enable participation in terms of attendance and involvement for diverse groups of children. In 2015–2017, the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education completed a project on inclusive early childhood education, focusing on structures, processes, and outcomes that ensure a systemic approach to high-quality inclusive early childhood education. Within the project, a self-reflection tool for improving inclusion, the Inclusive Early Childhood Education Environment Self-Reflection Tool (ISRT), was developed. For purposes of future implementation of the ISRT, the present study focused on the teachers' perspective regarding the ISRT's potential to contribute to enabling all children's participation, defined as attending and being actively engaged in the activities in early childhood education and care. The specific aim was to explore Swedish preschool teachers' perceptions of the ISRT based on their experiences of applying the tool.MethodsTwelve preschool teachers participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences of applying the tool. The interviews were analyzed with a thematic analysis.ResultsThe thematic analysis resulted in three main themes concerning the teachers' perception of (1) the construction of the ISRT, (2) the time required for using the tool, and (3) the tool's immediate relevance for practice. Each of these themes contained both negative and positive perceptions of the tool.DiscussionBased on the negative and positive perceptions identified in the three main themes, future research and development of the ISRT in Swedish preschools are discussed. On a general level, the results are discussed in relation to the implementation of the ISRT in terms of acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility.

A comparing key performance indicator and benchmarks of quality pre-school among the agency in Malaysia

High quality early childhood education (ECE) enables children to enjoy the experience and have nurturing environment that promotes holistic development. The key performance indicators such as quality pre-school’s environment, teachers and assistant teachers, learning materials have been predicted to produce desirable outcomes. However, the challenge is to identify the predictors that can quantify the definition of a quality teacher. This study uses questionnaire to assess individual perceptions and views on quality key performance indicators of early childhood pre-school center. The study’s findings revealed that the gap analysis related to the qualification of pre-school teachers and ratio teacher-child below the standard. Even though teacher-child ratio in private pre-schools is small because most of pre-schools do not employ assistant teacher as practiced in other pre-schools. Thus, the study found that the performance of children’s abilities in Ministry of Education pre-school and private pre-schools exceeded the national standard of 76.2% National Average of Reading and Writing, and 64.6% National Average of Arithmetic. However, based on benchmark 100% achievement, the screening performance report shown children far left behind. In conclusion, these findings are important to be given attention and remedial action in order the improvement and quality of pre-school achieve the minimum standard.

Quality early childhood education and care in a time of COVID-19.

Contextual approaches to high quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) seek to capture the complexity of children's lives, developing pedagogical approaches that are responsive to children's needs and interests. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic provided a complex layer to the question of what constitutes quality ECEC. A mixed methods appreciative inquiry of educators' and parents' views of quality in one ECEC setting in England, became an unexpected ethnographic exploration of quality ECEC in the time of a global pandemic. The findings indicate how features of quality, such as offering a range of learning environments and structuring the pedagogic environment to offer free-flowing play, had to be adapted to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The focus on quality shifted, prioritising the health and safety of families and staff, over the quality and variety of the curriculum. Greater emphasis was also placed on children's social and emotional well-being to support their ability to understand and manage the changes to routines in response to the pandemic. The findings demonstrate that the early years workforce remains central to understanding and supporting quality, concluding that quality ECEC is shaped by adaptability - adapting to the needs of children, families, staff, and the unprecedented context of COVID-19. The focus on adaptability seeks to highlight how educators frequently respond to unique contexts in juggling concepts of quality ECEC. Consequently, a recommendation is made for future educator training to consider the importance of adaptability, in providing a useful framework for reimaging quality ECEC post COVID-19.

Examining Child Deprivation Across California and How It Could Be Addressed with Early Childhood Education

Socioeconomic deprivation can create adverse conditions with direct impacts on the development of children. The Early Childhood Deprivation Index (ECDI) shows that there are significant differences in the extent of deprivation of young children (aged 0 to 5 years) among the counties in California. Our research shows that the cost of childcare forms a significant proportion of family income among low- and middle-income families. It indicates that families can pay for a high proportion of such costs if they could access the available federal and state government entitlements. A universal high-quality early childhood education system brings about an efficient way of providing the childcare without the unnecessary cost of employing a means-tested entitlement mechanism.  However, even with universal early childhood education, families need support to be able to take advantage of the program, since pre-schooling will be on a voluntary basis. It is therefore important that in addition to providing education universally- communities, and the state make every effort to increase the ability of California families to benefit from this important opportunity.