Evidence-Based Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment

Communications — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:01:28 GMT

In 2008, the Children's Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services entered into cooperative agreements with 17 subcontractors in 15 states to support the implementation of home visiting programs designed to prevent child maltreatment. A recently released report describes the fidelity measurement framework adopted by the cross-site evaluation team and early fidelity outcomes for 44 agencies implementing home visiting services as part of the initiative. A second report provides a snapshot of subcontractors' plans for achieving targeted outcomes and activities that support development of infrastructure to implement with fidelity, scale up, and sustain evidence-based home visiting programs during year three of the initiative.

Instructional Practices That Support ELL Children in Los Angeles Universal Preschool Classrooms

Coimmunications — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:13:03 GMT

This research brief describes instructional practices that support English language learners and presents findings on how those practices are applied in Los Angeles Universal preschool center-based classrooms and family child care programs.

Boller, Paulsell Contribute to Early Childhood Encyclopedia

Communications — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 08:49:29 GMT

Senior researcher Diane Paulsell and senior fellow Kimberly Boller recently contributed chapters on evidence-based home visiting programs to the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development.

Boller Co-Editor of Early Childhood Research Quarterly Issue

Communications — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 15:25:55 GMT

Senior fellow and early childhood expert Kimberly Boller is co-editing a special issue of Early Childhood Research Quarterly on early care and education Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs) as change agents. Deadline for manuscript submission is November 1, 2012, with a projected deadline for receipt of final drafts by June 1, 2013, for publication later that year. Submission guidelines and more information.

Children's Progress During the 2010-2011 LAUP Year

Communications — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:59:51 GMT

This issue brief describes children's development in the Los Angeles Universal Preschool program during 2010–2011. English-proficient students showed significant growth in early literacy skills from fall to spring, with their mean scores exceeding the national average. However, their vocabulary concepts and math skills were below the national average in spring. Language and math skills for English language learners continued to be below the national average, but literacy skills approached the national mean by spring 2011. At that time, the percentage of children scoring in the expected range exceeded the national average for attention, activity level, and sociability.

Webinar on Validating the Quality Rating and Improvement System

Communications — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:10:26 GMT

Mathematica's early childhood experts present research and findings on quality rating and improvement systems.

Head Start Children, Families, and Programs: Present and Past Data from FACES

Communications — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:24:16 GMT

Using data from the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), this report for the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides a portrait of children entering Head Start for the first time in fall 2009, as well as of their family backgrounds, and the classrooms and programs that serve them. The report also offers comparisons across the past decade of the Head Start program to delineate trends and changes in the population served and the services provided. Data tables.

Evaluating the Early Head Start Family Child Care Project

Communications — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:44:23 GMT

A new report evaluates the Early Head Start Family Child Care Project, designed to develop and pilot strategies for building Early Head Start and family child care partnerships. It documents characteristics of grantees, child care partners, child care partnership coordinators, and communities. The report describes how the work was implemented at local and state levels, including progress toward reaching targeted outcomes and types of partnerships formed to support collaboration. It also addresses sustainability of the partnerships and highlights lessons learned about collaborations designed to create more seamless service delivery for families. An additional report profiles the 22 partnership teams.

Webinar on Early Childhood Care Quality Measures and Toolkit

Communications — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:07:42 GMT

As states move ahead in enhancing systems of care for young children, assessing and improving the quality of early care and education programs at all levels are becoming increasingly important. Mathematica's Center for Improving Research Evidence (CIRE) recently presented a webinar on quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs). The webinar provided the federal and state context for QRIS data needs and highlighted a new resource—the Quality Rating and Improvement System Evaluation Toolkit developed by Mathematica and Child Trends staff.

Measuring Quality and Using It to Improve Practice and Policy in Early Childhood Development

Communications — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:18:15 GMT

This article in the Bernard van Leer Foundation's international journal, Early Childhood Matters, proposes a framework for conceptualizing and measuring the quality of early childhood programs in global contexts and makes recommendations for how policymakers, practitioners, and researchers can work together to improve quality. This article is a précis of a Society for Research in Child Development social policy report and issue brief on these topics.

Building Infrastructure to Support Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment: Two-Year Findings from the Cross-Site Evaluation of the Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting Initiative

Communications — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:23:24 GMT

This report describes planning and early implementation of home visiting programs in 15 states. The programs and report were funded by the Children's Bureau at the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The report describes the grantees, the home visiting program models they selected, and their progress and challenges. It should be of special interest to states and home visiting providers participating in the new Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting grant programs authorized by the Affordable Care Act and now being implemented in states.

New Research from Child Care Quality Rating System Assessment

Communications — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:32:47 GMT

New research on state or local child care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs) includes a QRIS evaluation toolkit, an exploratory analysis of quality standards for three QRIS programs, a more in-depth study of how quality is conceptualized and measured, and a look at how programs may integrate with other early childhood care and education programs in two states.

Resources for Measuring Services and Outcomes in Head Start Programs Serving Infants and Toddlers

Communications — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:30:36 GMT

As part of the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation-funded Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey project, Mathematica updated a 2003 report containing resources to help Head Start programs for infants and toddlers develop a performance measurement plan and carry out data collection to support continuous program improvement. The report discusses the importance and development of a comprehensive plan and presents profiles of potentially useful instruments. This version updates 16 of the original profiles with new information about norms and test characteristics and adds 13 new profiles of more widely used measures.

Early Childhood Development Programs In Global Contexts: Improving Quality

Communcations — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:13:59 GMT

With one quarter of the world's children at risk, ensuring quality of early childhood development programs (ECD) on a global scale is more crucial than ever. A report and corresponding issue brief shed light on the importance of equity in both access and quality in these ECD programs. Based on the latest research, the authors conceptualize quality across settings and systems and identify implications for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers on how they can work together to measure, improve, and sustain quality.

Effective Evaluation of Quality Rating and Improvement Systems for Early Care and Education and School-Age Care

Communications — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:45:59 GMT

This brief presents basic evaluation concepts for child care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs), useful tools for determining the appropriate design and timing of an evaluation, and evaluation references and resources for those who wish to learn more.

Learning As We Go: A First Snapshot of Early Head Start Programs, Staff, Families, and Children

Communications — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:17:08 GMT

The Early Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey, or Baby FACES, is a longitudinal descriptive study of Early Head Start that captures family-and child-level information in addition to program-level characteristics. This first report defines Head Start features and characteristics, program services and delivery, characteristics of Early Head Start families, characteristics of special populations and subgroups, and the psychometric properties of the survey measures. Volume II: Technical Appendices.

Trajectories of the Home Learning Environment Across the First 5 Years: Associations with Children's Vocabulary and Literacy Skills at Prekindergarten

Communications — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:46:50 GMT

This article examined home learning environments in a sample of 1,852 low-income families and their children at ages 1, 2, 3, and 5 years. The study found enriched learning experiences as early as 15 months are important to children's vocabulary growth and provides a foundation for children's later school success.

Developing Initiatives for Home-Based Child Care: Current Research and Future Directions

Communications — Thu, 26 May 2011 08:54:57 GMT

This article summarizes key findings on the prevalence and quality of home-based child care—a significant share of child care in the United States, especially for infants and toddlers. It describes caregiver characteristics and quality initiatives and makes recommendations for future directions including a critical need for more systematic efforts to develop and test quality initiatives.

Quality of Early Childhood Development Programs in Global Contexts: Rationale for Investment, Conceptual Framework and Implications for Equity

Communications — Mon, 02 May 2011 09:22:36 GMT

Early childhood development programs—which often involve the health, education, child welfare, and other sectors—are of great interest to policymakers, service providers, and families around the globe. This paper proposes that equity in access and quality are critical to effect sustainable and meaningful change in these programs in developing countries. The paper conceptualizes quality across settings and systems and identifies implications for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers on how they can work together to measure, improve, and sustain quality.

Quality Measurement in Early Childhood Settings

Communications — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:29:44 GMT

Mathematica authors contributed to two chapters in a new book: "Measuring the Quality of Early Childhood Math and Science Curricula and Teaching," and "Family-Sensitive Caregiving: A Key Component of Quality in Early Care and Education Arrangements."

Feeding Infants and Toddlers Study 2008 Findings

Comunications — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:32:28 GMT

Senior fellow Ronette Briefel presented 2008 findings on infant and toddler nutrition at Experimental Biology 2011 conference.

Early Head Start Children in Grade 5: Long-Term Followup of the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project Study Sample

Communications — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 08:46:32 GMT

This report estimates Early Head Start impacts on children and families when children were in fifth grade. It includes additional nonexperimental analyses to inform program practice and guide future research. Impacts on the full sample of children and families in the grade 5 followup suggest that for the overall sample, Early Head Start did not continue to have the broad pattern of impacts for child and family outcomes seen at earlier ages; however, there were interesting patterns of impacts for some subgroups.

Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness Review: Executive Summary

Communications — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 08:48:06 GMT

This executive summary provides an overview of the Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness review process, a summary of the review results, and a link to more detailed information. Overall, the review identified impact studies with high or moderate ratings for seven home visiting models: Early Head Start—Home Visiting, Family Check-Up, Healthy Families America, Healthy Steps, Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, Nurse Family Partnership, and Parents as Teachers.

Assessing the Evidence of Effectiveness of Home Visiting Program Models Implemented in Tribal Communities

Communications — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 08:49:03 GMT

This report describes the review process and findings for a systematic review of home visiting program models implemented in tribal communities or evaluated with American Indian and Alaska Native families and children. The review assessed evidence of effectiveness for culturally relevant models implemented in tribal communities.

Quality Dosage, Thresholds, and Features in Early Childhood Settings: A Review of the Literature

Communications — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:12:15 GMT

This literature review is one of multiple components to the Child Care and Early Education Quality Features, Thresholds and Dosage and Child Outcomes (Q-DOT) project. This project, which is examining evidence and providing new data on the relationship between the quality of early care settings and children’s outcomes, is looking at whether thresholds of quality, levels of dosage, and quality features are associated more strongly with children’s positive outcomes. Literature Review Tables.

Mathematica’s Early Childhood Staff to Present at SRCD

Communications — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 15:02:44 GMT

Mathematica's early childhood experts to present at the Society for Research in Child Development's biennial meeting in Montreal, Canada.

A Second Year in Head Start: Characteristics and Outcomes of Children Who Entered the Program at Age Three

Communications — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:57:50 GMT

This brief and accompanying data tables profile the second year in the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2006 for 3-year-old Head Start children and families who were newly enrolled in fall 2006 and are still attending in spring 2008. These children begin their program experience scoring below norms across developmental areas. By the end of their second year, however, they score at or above norms in their literacy development, including letter-word knowledge and early writing. "Data Tables for FACES 2006: A Second Year in Head Start Report."

Head Start Children Go to Kindergarten

Communications — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:59:52 GMT

This report and accompanying data tables describe the group of children who first entered Head Start in fall 2006 either as a 3- or 4- year old, completed one or two years in the program, and attended kindergarten the year after completing Head Start. Head Start children make progress in important school readiness skills over the course of their time in Head Start and in the kindergarten year, and this progress is positively related to material and social resources in the home, the quality of their Head Start classroom, and several measures of peer abilities, among other factors. "Data Tables for FACES 2006: Head Start Children Go to Kindergarten Report."

Supporting Home Visitors in Evidence-Based Programs: Experience of EBHV Grantees

Communications — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:01:16 GMT

This brief, the fourth in the series Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment, summarizes lessons about supervising and supporting home visitors in evidence-based home visiting programs. Topics include steps to cultivate organizational support for evidence-based home visiting programs, methods to address internal staff concerns about these programs, benefits of evidence-based models’ approaches to home visitor supervision, and the need to provide home visitors with resources and knowledge through community partnerships.

Replicating Evidence-Based Home Visiting Models: A Framework for Assessing Fidelity

Communications — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:02:46 GMT

This brief, the third in the series Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment, presents a system to monitor fidelity in evidence-based infant and early childhood home visiting programs. Topics addressed include defining fidelity and its impact on program outcomes; assessing fidelity during initial and ongoing program implementation; and selecting program level, provider level, service delivery, and participant level indicators to obtain a comprehensive view of fidelity.

Recording from Home-Visiting Webinar Now Available

Communications — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 13:36:43 GMT

This webinar coincides with the release of a new brief on the fidelity monitoring system Mathematica and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago developed for the cross-site evaluation of the Evidence-Based Home Visiting initiative.

Recruiting and Training Home Visitors for Evidence-Based Home Visiting (EBHV): Experience of EBHV Grantees

Communications — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:47:10 GMT

This brief summarizes lessons about recruiting and training home visitors for evidence-based programs from grantees participating in the Children’s Bureau’s Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting to Prevent Child Maltreatment grantee cluster. Key challenges include locating candidates that understand the demands and responsibilities of home visitation, hiring home visitors that can serve families that are culturally and linguistically diverse, and understanding that training about the community and target population complements training provided by the evidence-based model.

Register for December 15 Webinar on Assessing Home Visiting Program Fidelity

Communications — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 14:29:54 GMT

Join us for a webinar that coincides with the release of a new brief on the fidelity monitoring system Mathematica Policy Research and Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago developed for the cross-site evaluation of the EBHV initiative.

Early Childhood Experts to Discuss Seeds to Success Findings at December Webinar

Communications — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 13:56:29 GMT

This webinar will present findings from Seeds to Success Modified Field Test (Seeds), a project to assess the effectiveness of a child care quality rating and improvement system in Washington State.

A Year in Head Start: Children, Families and Programs

Communications — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 13:37:39 GMT

Using data from FACES 2006, this report profiles the 3- and 4-year-old Head Start children and families newly enrolled in fall 2006 and still attending in spring 2007. Although they enter Head Start below national norms on most measures of language, literacy, and math skills, these children make significant progress toward norms during the year in the areas of receptive vocabulary in English, letter-word knowledge, and early math. By spring, they score at national norms in letter-word knowledge. Data tables.

The Seeds to Success Modified Field Test: Impact Evaluation Findings

Communications — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:58:53 GMT

This brief highlights key findings from the Seeds to Success Modified Field Test, a voluntary child care quality rating and improvement system to improve the quality of child care in Washington State. It presents findings on whether the coaching model and financial incentives implemented affect quality of services provided by participating child care businesses.

The Seeds to Success Modified Field Test: Implementation Lessons

Communications — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:55:06 GMT

This brief highlights key findings from the Seeds to Success Modified Field Test, a voluntary child care quality rating and improvement system to improve the quality of child care in Washington. The brief presents findings on whether the coaching model and financial incentives implemented affect quality of services participating child care businesses provide.

Supporting Quality in Home-Based Child Care

Communications — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:51:29 GMT

This brief presents an overview of key project findings, including a summary, characteristics of caregivers, quality initiatives, and evidence of effectiveness.

A Review of the Literature on Home-Based Child Care: Implications for Future Directions

Communications — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:59:32 GMT

This comprehensive literature review examines quality in home-based child care settings.

Supporting Quality in Home-Based Child Care: A Compendium of 23 Initiatives

Communications — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:00:35 GMT

This compendium of initiatives provides comprehensive, up-to-date information about home-based child care and initiative designs to support quality in these settings.

A Compilation of Initiatives to Support Home-Based Child Care

Communications — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:01:17 GMT

This compilation profiles a wide range of initiatives, either currently under way or recently implemented, to support quality in home-based child care.

Supporting Quality in Home-Based Child Care: Initiative Design and Evaluation Options

Communications — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:01:50 GMT

This report describes strategies for supporting quality in home-based child care settings as well as considerations for decision-making and ongoing evaluation.

Assessing the Need for Evidence-Based Home Visiting (EBHV): Experience of EBHV Grantees

Communications — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:45:23 GMT

This issue brief provides information about how grantees participating in the Children’s Bureau’s Supporting Evidence-Based Home Visiting (EBHV) to Prevent Child Maltreatment grantee cluster prepared and planned needs assessments and collected data. It also describes facilitators and barriers to carrying out the assessments and provides lessons learned by grantees. This information may be useful to states as they plan needs assessments required by the new Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program.

The Seeds to Success Modified Field Test: Findings from the Impact and Implementation Studies

Communications — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:43:52 GMT

This report presents findings from an impact evaluation and implementation study of the Seeds to Success Modified Field Test, a child care quality rating and improvement system in Washington State.

Early Learning Initiative

Communications — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:01:12 GMT

In 2006, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Early Learning Initiative to improve the school readiness of Washington State’s children. Two communities, East Yakima and White Center, have implemented strategies to meet the initiative’s goals. Mathematica conducted a formative evaluation of one component of the initiative, home-based early learning services, to learn how home-visiting programs have been implemented within the two communities as well as the quality and content of the home visits. A new series of briefs describe the study’s findings and provide recommendations for developing and evaluating home-visiting programs.

"Better Beginnings: Developing Home-Based Early Learning Systems in East Yakima and White Center." Kristin Hallgren, Diane Paulsell, and Patricia Del Grosso, May 2010. This brief summarizes the experiences of two communities in developing home-based early learning services.

"Better Beginnings: Partnering with Families for Early Learning Home Visit Observations." Kristin Hallgren, Kimberly Boller, and Diane Paulsell, May 2010. This brief provides an overview of the observation instruments and describes the content and quality of the observed home visits.

Tenth Annual Head Start National Research Conference

Communications — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:42:04 GMT

Mathematica’s early childhood experts will present at the Administration for Children and Families Tenth Annual Head Start National Research Conference, June 21 through 23, in Washington, D.C.

First 5 Contra Costa Report on Parent Involvement

Communications — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:44:59 GMT

This report provides insight into parent opinions of and involvement with child care programs participating in Preschool Makes a Difference. It also offers First 5 Contra Costa new accounts of how programs support the diverse needs of Contra Costa parents.

New Website and Reports on Evidence-Based Home Visiting

Communications — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:09:43 GMT

Mathematica is evaluating Evidence-Based Home Visiting (EBHV) programs funded by the Children’s Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A new website features publications and other EBHV resources. Reports include:

A brief summary of the cross-site evaluation design.
A summary of the final design for the cross-site evaluation, including detailed information about data collection and analysis plans.
A report that grounds the cross-site systems domain evaluation approach in the system literature. It focuses on three aspects: (1) the system-based evaluation approach and theory of change, (2) core infrastructure concepts, and (3) system-based evaluation methods.
A report that summarizes key activities conducted during the initial planning year and provides reflections on experiences and lessons learned using a participatory approach to evaluation planning.

Mathematica Policy Research

Early Childhood Experts Attend SRCD

Child Outcomes and Classroom Quality in FACES 2009