Article,
Examining the effects of an infant-toddler school readiness intervention in center- and family-based programs: Are results generalizable?
Affiliations
- [1] Aarhus Univ, Ctr Integrated Register Based Res CIRRAU, Aarhus, Denmark [NORA names: AU Aarhus University; University; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
- [2] Aarhus Univ, Ctr Integrated Register Based Res CIRRAU, Aarhus, Denmark [NORA names: Lundbeck Foundation; Non-Profit Organisations; Denmark; Europe, EU; Nordic; OECD];
- [3] Univ Utrecht, Dept Child Family & Educ Studies, Utrecht, Netherlands [NORA names: Netherlands; Europe, EU; OECD];
- [4] Ohio State Univ, Dept Educ Studies, Columbus, OH USA [NORA names: United States; America, North; OECD];
- [5] Ohio State Univ, Dept Educ Studies, Columbus, OH USA [NORA names: United States; America, North; OECD]
Abstract
Infants and toddlers frequently participate in either center- or family-based childcare programs. However, little is known about the efficacy of early learning interventions introduced in these two types of programs, in particular family-based programs. The present work builds upon findings of a recent experimental trial demonstrating that a 20-week infant-toddler intervention supporting center- and family-based teachers to be more explicit and intentional in their interactions had a significantly positive effect on targeted child outcomes. In this follow-up paper, we conducted secondary analyses exploring effects of the intervention across the two contexts, center- and family-based programs. Analyses showed that the social validity of the intervention was generally high in both settings, but even higher in family-based than center-based programs. Findings also showed that teachers in both types of programs implemented the intervention at a satisfactory level, but family-based teachers tended to implement more small-group activities and had more conversations with individual children. There were no differential impacts on child outcomes across the two contexts, except for an overall significant spill-over effect on the outcome of empathy within center-based care. Finally, we found that the intervention had positive effects on teachers' use of counting and math activities in both types of programs.