No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards with reservations
For:
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Department-funded evaluation (findings for Ounce Professional Development Initiative)
Rating:
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Meets WWC standards with reservations
because it uses a quasi-experimental design in which the analytic intervention and comparison groups satisfy the baseline equivalence requirement.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Academic achievement outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome measure
|
Comparison
|
Period
|
Sample
|
Intervention mean
|
Comparison mean
|
Significant?
|
Improvement index
|
Evidence tier
|
Bracken School Readiness Assessment
|
Ounce Professional Development Initiative vs.
Head Start
|
2 Years
|
Full sample;
58 students
|
97.55
|
96.93
|
No
|
--
|
|
GOLD: Cognitive
|
Ounce Professional Development Initiative vs.
Head Start
|
2 Years
|
Full sample;
1,092 students
|
587.77
|
597.29
|
No
|
--
|
|
Teacher instruction outcomes—Substantively important positive effect found for the domain
Outcome measure
|
Comparison
|
Period
|
Sample
|
Intervention mean
|
Comparison mean
|
Significant?
|
Improvement index
|
Evidence tier
|
Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS): Emotional
|
Ounce Professional Development Initiative vs.
Head Start
|
2 Years
|
Full sample;
10 teachers
|
6.00
|
5.35
|
No
|
--
|
|
CLASS: Facilitation of Learning
|
Ounce Professional Development Initiative vs.
Head Start
|
2 Years
|
Full sample;
12 teachers
|
3.13
|
2.19
|
No
|
--
|
|
Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS): Classroom Organization
|
Ounce Professional Development Initiative vs.
Head Start
|
2 Years
|
Full sample;
15 teachers
|
5.75
|
4.92
|
No
|
--
|
|
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Urban
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- U
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- X
- Z
- Y
- a
- h
- i
- b
- d
- e
- f
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- g
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Illinois
Setting
This study was conducted in early childhood education Head Start centers in Chicago. There were five centers in the intervention group and 40 centers in the matched comparison group. The teacher training began in the summer of 2012. The student cohorts participated in the program for either 1 or 2 years starting in the Fall of 2012.
Study sample
Teachers and students in the sample were demographically diverse, though the diversity varied by center. In one center, the majority of students were Black predominantly low socioeconomic status. In two centers, Black, Hispanic, and White students were about equally represented. In the fourth center, the neighborhood was relatively affluent and about half of the students were White. Demographics for the students in the study sample were not reported.
Intervention Group
The Ounce Professional Development Initiative (Ounce PDI) is a job-embedded professional development program which was implemented in early childhood education centers in this study. The program involves three core "contexts of learning:" learning labs, coaching, and reflective practice groups. These strategies are designed to support early childhood teachers improve instructional planning and teaching practice. The Ounce PDI initiative is implemented with teachers, center leaders, family support specialists, and coaches via the three learning contexts. Teachers, leaders, and coaches are engaged in parallel learning designed to improve knowledge and skills in the areas of organizational systems, instructional planning and implementation, professional development, and children's early achievement. The training labs promote knowledge development, coaching helps transfer knowledge into practice, and the reflective practice groups promote collaborative practice and planning.
Comparison Group
The comparison centers in the study were all Head Start centers in the Chicago area. These centers presumably followed the typical Head Start practice and structure.
Support for implementation
The intervention itself is designed to support implementation of the skills through the inclusion of teachers, leaders, and coaches in the training and the embedded coaching and reflective practice groups. Although an extensive fidelity study was described in the study, there was little specific information about how the implementation of the Ounce PDI was supported.