Sustained Exposure to High Quality Programming During the Earliest Years: Evidence from the Educare Cross-site

Implementation Study

Noreen Yazejian, Ph.D.FPG Child Development Institute

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Child Care Policy Research Consortium (CCPRC) Annual MeetingWashington DC, October 30, 2009

Educare

8 operational sites: Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee, Miami, Oklahoma City, Omaha (2), Tulsa

4 sites opening by Fall 2010: Kansas City, Maine (central), Seattle, Tulsa 2

9 sites in development: Anacostia, Arizona, California, Cleveland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Orleans, West DuPage, Yakima

• Formation of Educare and the Bounce Learning Network• Public/Private partnerships• Future growth of the Network

Core Features of the Educare Model

• Small Class Size• Staff Qualifications• Continuity of Care• Early Oral Language

and Literacy• Social Emotional

Development• Problem Solving and

Numeracy

• Starting Early• Research Based• Family Support

Services• Interdisciplinary

Approach• Reflective

Supervision and Practice

• Integrating the Arts

Implementation Study Purposes • For internal stakeholders:

Program improvement, site-specific technical assistance, and answering site-specific questions

• For external stakeholders: Document core features, showcase high quality, contribute to literature on enhancing child outcomes, and provide data and a place for advocacy

Who Are We?

• Local evaluators at eight sites (in 2009-10) with a central evaluation coordination site at FPG

• National advisory board for the Implementation Study

• Local program leaders and funders

• Technical assistance staff at the Ounce of Prevention Fund

Type of data Frequency Why Collect?Staff Questionnaire Annually Demographics, beliefs, practicesParent Interview F & S each year Demographics, beliefs, activities,

involvement, risk factors

Classroom ObsITERS-R or ECERS-RELLCOCLASS

Annually Classroom activities, language, interactions, overall quality

Child assessmentsEarly Comm. IndicatorBayleyPPVT-4 (+ Woodcock-Munoz)

PALS Bracken

F, W, S24 monthsEHS: at 36 moHS: F & S of 1st HS yr + S of 2nd yrF & S of yr before K Spring before K

Child language and cognitive status and change over time; maintenance of Spanish language (for ELLs)

Tchr ratings: DECA-IT & DECA F & S each year Children’s social-emotional competence

Overview of Data Collection

Distribution of ITERS-R Total Scores, 2008 & 2009

0

10

20

3040

50

60

70

1-1.9 2-2.9 3-3.9 4-4.9 5-5.9 6-7.0

2008, N=412009, N=32

%

Distribution of ECERS-R Total Scores, 2008 & 2009

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1-1.9 2-2.9 3-3.9 4-4.9 5-5.9 6-7.0

2008, N=382009, N=48

%

Child Demographics, 2009

• Gender: 51% Boys, 49% Girls

• Race/Ethnicity29% Hispanic (any race)56% Black 7% White8% Biracial or Other

• Primary Caregiver Education 19% < HS 14%HS plus technical training 20% HS/GED 10% AA 24% some college 7% BA

Language Most Heard at Home (%)

0102030405060708090

100

CHI DEN MIL OMA SEA TUL ALL

EnglishSpanishOtherMissing

10

Summary of Age of Entry Effects• Age of entry matters—the earlier children enter, the

higher their scores on:– Bayley cognitive and language scores at age 2– PPVT vocabulary scores at age 3 (Eng speakers)– PPVT the spring before K (Eng & non-Eng)– Bracken school readiness the spring before K (Eng & non-Eng)– Woodcock Munoz Spanish lang ability the spring before K

• Age of entry effects were not found for:– Bayley motor scores– Latest ECI communication scores– PPVT for non-Eng and Woodcock Munoz at age 3 (but sample

sizes small)

11

Bayley Cognitive Standard Scores of 2 Year Olds by Age of Entry into Educare

All Sites, English, Adjusted, 2007-09

0-6 mos (n=15) 6-12 mos (n=34)

12-18 mos (n=24)

18+ mos (n=16)

All (N=89)85

90

95

100

105

110

115

96.7 96.493.7

91.5

94.8

Bayley Language Standard Scores of 2 Year Olds by Age of Entry into Educare

All Sites, English, Adjusted, 2007-09

0-6 mos (n=15) 6-12 mos (n=34)

12-18 mos (n=24)

18+ mos (n=16)

All (N=89)85

90

95

100

105

110

115

101.2

96.298.7

92.1

97.0

English Vocabulary Scores (PPVT-4) of 3 Year Olds by Age of Entry into Educare

All Sites, Adjusted, 2007-09

Age 1 Age 2 Age 3 All85

90

95

100

105

110

115

95.893.2

90.693.7

English (n=230)Children’s Home Language:

English Vocabulary Scores (PPVT-4) of Kindergarten Bound Children by Age of Entry into Educare

All Sites, Adjusted, 2007-09

< 2 yrs 2-3 yr 3-4 yrs 4+ yrs All65707580859095

100105110115

96.291.8

89.1 88.891.0

100.3

89.6

78.4

69.774.5

English (n=372) Non-English (n=214)Children’s Home Language:

School Readiness Scores (English Bracken) of Kindergarten Bound Children by Age of Entry into Educare

All Sites, Adjusted, 2007-09

< 2 yrs 2-3 yrs 3-4 yrs 4+ yrs All85

90

95

100

105

110

115

105.1

98.496.4 95.5

98.8

104.4 105.3

97.0

88.7

93.0

English (n=332) Non-English (n=189)Children’s Home Language:

PPVT Scores 2007-09: Age by Age of Entry Interactions (Home Language: n=681 English, 283 non-English)

Age 3 Age 4 Age 565

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

97.6 97.1 96.6

85.6

91.390.693.7

96.8

67.6

78.6

English-Early Enterers (Age 1) English-Late Enterers (Age 4)Non-English-Early Enterers (age 1.5) Non-English-Late Enterers (Age 4)

Educare’s Early Returns are Promising

• Strong evidence for “earlier is better”• High-quality classrooms presumed to play a role,

but also other Educare core features• Planning for a randomized study to better

compare effects of Educare with “typical” care• Purpose statement, measures list, and Promising

Early Returns documents are available at:http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~bounce

Noreen.yazejian@unc.edu