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Evaluation of Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC): An On-site Training of Caregivers

Region:

West

Description:

The PITC intervention approach combines direct caregiver training and on-site coaching or other tailored assistance. This study tested a specific implementation model of PITC, with delivery of 64 hours of training and 40 hours of on-site coaching and support, requiring an average of 14 months for full implementation.

The study was implemented over 2007–2010 in six Southern California counties and four Arizona counties. The study sample of 251 childcare programs included 92 childcare centers and 159 E2licensed family child care homes.

The primary findings, associated with child-level outcomes, are:

  • PITC did not have a statistically significant effect on a composite measure of children’s cognitive/language scores, measured approximately six months (on average) after the caregiver training ended.
  • PITC did not have a statistically significant effect on children’s composite behavior scores, measured at six months after the caregiver training ended.

Secondary research questions addressed the effects of PITC on childcare program quality at, on average, four months after the intervention ended. Findings of this analysis are:

  • PITC did not have a statistically significant effect on overall measures of program quality, as measured in the childcare sites by trained observers.
  • PITC did not have a statistically significant effect on staff-child interactions.

The RCT summary for this project is available at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/rct_90.asp.
Publication Type:

NCEE/REL Evaluation Report

Online Availability:
Publication Date:
March 2012
Contact: