Project Details
Description
Table 2 illustrates the status of planned research activities. As shown, all data cleaning and preparation activities were completed across child, teacher, and provider-level data files. In addition, impact analyses were completed. The scholar met with her faculty mentor and dissertation committee members to seek feedback on analytic approaches and additional analyses and robustness checks throughout this period. In addition, the scholar met with her state-level program partners from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the Ohio Department of Education multiple times during this period to communicate progress and discuss results and interpretation of findings.
The scholar prepared a research brief describing the study design and methods. The scholar attended the Annual Meeting of the Child Care Policy Research Consortium in December 2015 and presented the research design at the grantee meeting.
The scholar submitted her written dissertation to her committee and presented to her committee during her dissertation defense on February 26, 2016.
In addition, the scholar drafted a policy brief to share with state-agency program partners to use for dissemination of findings to state policy makers and program administrators.
Problems/Changes to Proposed Approach
Two of the outcome measures originally proposed were not appropriate for analyses due to lack of sufficient variation in one case (for the indicator of teacher participation in high-quality professional development) and inadequate state records to compile the measure in another case (for teacher retention). However, the scholar was successful in obtaining alternative outcome measures that address research questions even more proximal to the treatment. These new measures are the classroom (Early Language and Literacy Classroom Observation [ELLCO] Toolkit, Research Edition) and program (Step Up to Quality rating) quality measures that were presented during the December 2015 grantee meeting. Descriptions of these new measures are provided below.
ELLCO Scores. ELLCO scores served as the measure of classroom quality – specifically the quality of early language and literacy instructional practices. The ELLCO Toolkit, Research Edition (Smith & Dickinson, 2002), was designed and validated as a protocol to measure the classroom environment and language and early literacy instructional practices in Preschool through Grade 3 classrooms. It comprises three sections: the Literacy Environment Checklist, the Classroom Observation and Teacher Interview, and the Literacy Activities Rating Scale. Learning Point Associates collected data using the Classroom Observation and Teacher Interview portion of the ELLCO Toolkit. As outlined in Table A1, the Classroom Observation consists of 14 individual elements that are conceptually grouped into two constructs: General Classroom Environment and Language, Literacy, and Curriculum.
Each element is rated on a five-point anchored scale by two trained independent observers. Ratings for the five-point scale are defined as follows: 5 - “Exemplary” or strong evidence; 4 - “Proficient”; 3 - “Basic” or some evidence; 2- “Limited”; 1 - “Deficient” or minimal evidence. For each element, ratings 1, 3, and 5 are articulated by a series of descriptive statements outlined within a rubric in the ELLCO Toolkit. Ratings 2 and 4 are not given descriptive statements; therefore, these ratings are used to differentiate gradations between the other ratings. A Classroom Observation Total score (score range from 14-70) was composited by summing the 14 element
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 9/30/16 → 9/29/17 |
Funding
- Administration for Children and Families (90YE0159-02-00)
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