Effectiveness

Findings

The WWC review of interventions for early childhood education addresses children’s outcomes in six domains: oral language, print knowledge, phonological processing, early reading and writing, cognition, and math. The studies included in this report cover five domains: oral language, print knowledge, phonological processing, cognition, and math. The findings below present the authors’ and the WWC-calculated estimates of the size and statistical significance of the effects of Curiosity Corner on children’s performance.⁹

Oral language. Chambers et al. (2001) analyzed the differences between the Curiosity Corner and comparison groups for two measures (Mullen Scales of Early Learning [MSEL] Expressive Language Scale and MSEL Receptive Language Scale) in this outcome domain. The authors report findings separately for 3-year-old children in private child care centers and 4-year-old children in public school programs. The authors report a statistically significant effect of Curiosity Corner on Expressive Language for 3-year-old children but not for 4-year-old children. The effect size reported by Chambers et al. for the difference on the MSEL Expressive Language Scale between the 3-year-old Curiosity Corner and comparison groups is large enough to be considered substantively important according to WWC criteria (that is, at least 0.25). In WWC calculations, the differences are not statistically significant for either 3- or 4-year-old children on Expressive Language. For Receptive Language, Chambers et al. report, and the WWC confirms, the difference is not statistically significant or substantively important for 3- or 4-year-old children. The average effect size for oral language in this study, combining age groups and both measures in this domain, is not statistically significant or substantively important. PCER Consortium (2008) analyzed the effectiveness of Curiosity Corner on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-III) and the Test of Language Development (TOLD). The authors report, and the WWC confirms, differences between the treatment and control groups are not statistically significant or substantively important. According to WWC criteria, these two studies show no discernible effects on oral language.

Print knowledge. PCER Consortium (2008) analyzed Curiosity Corner’s effectiveness on the Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA-3), the Woodcock-Johnson (WJ III) Letter Word Identification subtest, and the WJ III Spelling subtest. The study shows, and the WWC confirms, no statistically significant or substantively important differences between treatment and control groups on any of these measures, and thus, no discernible effects on print knowledge.

Phonological processing. PCER Consortium (2008) also examined Curiosity Corner’s effects on the Elision subtest from the Preschool Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (Pre-CTOPPP). The study shows, and the WWC confirms, no statistically significant or substantively important differences between children who participated in Curiosity Corner and those in the control group, and thus, no discernible effects on phonological processing.

Cognition. Chambers et al. (2001) analyzed the differences between the Curiosity Corner and comparison groups for one measure (MSEL Visual Reception scale) in the cognition outcome domain. The authors report, and the WWC confirms, the difference between the intervention and comparison groups is not statistically significant for either 3- or 4-year-old children. According to WWC calculations, the effect sizes are not large enough to be considered substantively important and thus, according to WWC criteria, the study showed no discernible effects in this domain.

Math. PCER Consortium (2008) examined Curiosity Corner’s effect on three math outcomes: the WJ III Applied Problems subtest, the Composite Score subtest from the Child Math Assessment-Abbreviated, and Shape Composition. The study shows, and the WWC confirms, none of the differences between children in the treatment and control groups are statistically significant or substantively important. Thus, according to WWC criteria, the study shows no discernible effects of Curiosity Corner on the math domain.

Rating of effectiveness

The WWC rates the effects of an intervention in a given outcome domain as positive, potentially positive, mixed, no discernible effects, potentially negative, or negative. The rating of effectiveness takes into account four factors: the quality of the research design, the statistical significance of the findings, the size of the difference between participants in the intervention and the comparison conditions, and the consistency in findings across studies (see the WWC Intervention Rating Scheme).

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