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Happy to share new work in collaboration with @weilanch @Meghan_McCorm @Michelle_MaierN @hsueh_joann Jason Sachs and Catherine Snow. Our study is part of the Early Learning Network @earlylearnnet funded by @IESRresearch. 1/8 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0885200620300880?dgcid=author
We replicated and extended @weilanch @HiroYoshikawaNY and colleagues' prior work in the Boston Public Schools. They also found largely null results. 2/8
Long story short: We found that CLASS PreK didn’t predict prekindergartener’s gains in vocabulary, executive function, or math. Results were consistent across modeling approaches and sensitivity checks. 3/8
In our extension work, we also found that associations between classroom quality - as measured by the CLASS PreK –and children’s gains did not differ by children’s baseline vocabulary or math skills. 4/8
To be sure, the CLASS is arguably the best ECE measure we have. It facilitates cross-program and within-program comparisons; serves as a PD tool for teachers; and shows small associations with child gains in some contexts. 5/8
And with the right policy conditions, programs do improve on CLASS. See the outstanding, award-winning work from @daphnabassok, @Thomas_S_Dee, and @LathamS12: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pam.22149 6/8
Our results simply reinforce what experts have been calling for – more measurement work in ECE. Preschool classrooms are increasingly diverse, complex contexts. We need to keep working together to define and measure the active ingredients that drive children’s gains. 7/8
As we end in the paper, given a large amount of evidence that some preschool curricula are more effective than others, new measures that take curricula and content of instruction into account may be a particularly promising area for new research. 8/8
