Program Announcement: Early Childhood Programs and Policies CFDA 84.305A

Program Officer:
Dr. Caroline Ebanks
Caroline.Ebanks@ed.gov
(202) 219-1410

Purpose

Through its Early Childhood Programs and Policies (Early Childhood) research program, the Institute intends to contribute to improvement of school readiness skills (e.g., pre-reading, language, vocabulary, early science and mathematics knowledge, social skills) of prekindergarten children (i.e., three- to five-year-olds) by: (1) exploring malleable factors¹ (e.g., children's skills, instructional practices, policies) that are associated with better child outcomes, as well as mediators and moderators of the relations between these factors and child outcomes, for the purpose of identifying potential targets of intervention; (2) developing innovative early childhood curricula, instructional practices, programs, and policies for improving school readiness; (3) evaluating fully developed early childhood curricula, instructional practices, programs, and policies for improving school readiness through efficacy or replication trials; (4) evaluating the impact of early childhood curricula, instructional practices, programs, and policies that are implemented at scale; and (5) developing and validating assessments for use in early childhood instructional settings.

The long-term outcome of this program will be an array of tools and strategies (e.g., assessments, instructional approaches, programs, and policies) that have been documented to be effective for improving school readiness skills for prekindergarten (three- to five-year-old) children in center-based prekindergarten settings.

Background

Despite decades of federal, state, and local programs intended to support young children's preparation for schooling, children from low-income families continue to begin formal schooling at a disadvantage. Findings from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, a multiyear study following over 22,000 children in the kindergarten class of 1998 through the fifth grade, show that children from families living in poverty had lower reading achievement scores, on average, than students living in households at or above the poverty line. In particular, 61 percent of students living in poverty scored in the lowest third of the distribution of reading achievement scores, compared with 25 percent of students in households at or above the poverty threshold. These differences in reading achievement based on poverty status are evident at the beginning of kindergarten and persist throughout the elementary years (Princiotta, Flanagan, and Germino-Hausken 2006). There is a similar pattern of findings in mathematics. In short, substantial numbers of children from low-income families begin kindergarten behind their more affluent peers, and remain behind throughout their academic careers.

The Institute encourages researchers to explore malleable factors (e.g., instructional practices, policies, teacher skills) that are associated with better school readiness outcomes, as well as mediators and moderators of the relations between these factors and child outcomes, for the purpose of identifying potential targets of intervention. This is translational research intended to inform the development of innovative programs, practices, or products to improve child outcomes. One approach to the exploration of malleable factors is for researchers to conduct detailed, quantifiable observations of early childhood teacher practices (types of instruction, frequency, duration, under what circumstances), and then use the instructional data in conjunction with child characteristics to predict subsequent school readiness. The goal here is to identify what type or combination of instructional activities is associated with better child outcomes and for which students. Researchers who can identify strong correlates of child outcomes could use this information as the basis for developing an intervention.

The Institute is interested in the development of innovative programs and practices intended to improve young children's pre-reading, pre-writing, language and vocabulary, and early science and mathematics skills, as well as research to evaluate the impact of such programs and practices to determine if they actually improve student outcomes. The Institute also encourages research on the development and evaluation of programs and practices intended to improve young children's socio-emotional readiness. Socio-emotional competence covers a broad range of knowledge and skills. The Institute encourages research on those skills that are predictive of later school performance.

Currently many states are considering the costs and benefits of different early childhood policies, such as (a) universal prekindergarten programs versus targeted prekindergarten programs; (b) full-day prekindergarten programs versus half-day prekindergarten programs; and (c) one-year programs (i.e., for four-year-olds) versus two-year programs (i.e., for three- to five-year-olds). The Institute encourages proposals that address these and other important systems-level issues including (a) financing early childhood programs (e.g., are there more efficient and effective ways to coordinate funding streams?); (b) alignment of state early learning standards with kindergarten to grade 12 standards; (c) assessment of children's kindergarten readiness (e.g., what should be assessed or what is predictive of later school achievement?); and (d) teacher certification requirements (what criteria are predictive of child outcomes?).

Under the Early Childhood program, the Institute supports research on the development of practical assessments of teacher subject matter knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and instructional skills, and validation of these assessments (or existing assessments) against measures of student learning and achievement. Understanding what skills and knowledge make a teacher effective, and identifying teacher candidates and current teachers who have these skills and knowledge is critical to developing a highly qualified teacher workforce. Ideally, assessments of pedagogical knowledge and skills and subject matter knowledge would not only predict student achievement but also be practical to administer and cost-effective. Although some existing tests of pedagogical knowledge and subject matter knowledge have been correlated with the test takers' SAT or ACT scores, validation of existing tests against measures of school readiness remains to be accomplished (Gitomer, Latham, and Ziomek 1999). Hence, the Institute is interested in proposals to validate existing measures of pedagogical knowledge and subject matter knowledge against measures of school readiness as well as proposals to develop and validate new measures. Assessments of teacher pedagogical and subject matter knowledge that are strongly correlated with student outcomes could form the basis for an improved system of certification and for determining the effectiveness of professional development activities. The Institute also invites applications to develop and/or validate measures of instructional practices that could be used by schools to provide feedback to teachers and improve the quality of classroom instruction; such measures must be validated against measures of student achievement.

Under the Early Childhood program, the Institute intends to support the development and/or validation of assessments of school readiness, pre-reading, pre-writing, language and vocabulary, early mathematics, early science, and social skills. Such assessments could be used to monitor progress in these domains and/or for purposes of screening for school readiness. Applications that would be appropriate for consideration include, but are not limited to: (a) proposals to develop new assessments that teachers could use to inform classroom instruction; (b) proposals to modify or adapt existing assessments so that teachers can use them to inform daily or weekly instructional plans for specific students; and (c) proposals to adapt assessments originally designed and used for research purposes for broader use in instructional settings.

References

Gitomer, D. H., Latham, A. S., & Ziomek, R. (1999). The Academic Quality of Prospective Teachers: The Impact of Admissions and Licensure Testing. http://www.ets.org/praxis/.

Princiotta, D., Flanagan, K. D., and Germino Hausken, E. (2006). Fifth Grade: Findings From The Fifth-Grade Follow-up of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS–K). (NCES 2006-038) U.S. Department of Education.