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/writing, cognition, and math.⁶

Oral language. Cole et al. (1993) analyzed findings for three measures in this outcome domain [McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities (MSCA) verbal subtest; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R); Test of Early Language Development (TELD)] and found no statistically significant differences between the intervention and comparison groups for any of the measures.⁷ The average effect size across the three oral language measures was neither statistically significant nor large enough to be considered substantively important according to WWC criteria (that is, at least 0.25). In the oral language domain, this study showed no discernible effects according to WWC criteria.

Print knowledge. Cole et al. (1993) analyzed findings for one measure in this outcome domain [Test of Early Reading Ability (TERA)], but did not find a statistically significant difference between the intervention and comparison groups. The effect was not large enough to be considered substantively important according to WWC critera (that is, at least 0.25). In the print knowledge domain, this study showed no discernible effects according to WWC criteria.

Cognition. Cole et al. (1993) analyzed findings for two measures in this outcome domain (MSCA Perceptual subtest; MSCA Memory subtest) and found no statistically significant differences between the intervention and comparison groups for either measure.⁸ The average effect size across the two cognitive measures was neither statistically significant nor large enough to be considered substantively important according to WWC criteria (that is, at least 0.25). In the cognition domain, this study showed no discernible effects according to WWC criteria.

Math. Cole et al. (1993) analyzed findings for one measure in this outcome domain (MSCA Quantitative subtest) and did not find a statistically significant difference between the intervention and comparison groups. The effect was not large enough to be considered substantively important according to WWC criteria (that is, at least 0.25). In the math domain, this study showed no discernible effects according to WWC criteria.

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,⁶ 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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