Project Activities
Researchers examined the relationship between individual children's engagement within classrooms and child outcomes. They completed a series of secondary data analyses to unpack these relationships.
Structured Abstract
Setting
This study drew from three datasets that represent children's pre-kindergarten experiences in varied locations across the country: the National Center for Early Development and Learning (NCEDL) Multi-State Study of Pre-Kindergarten, the State-Wide Early Education Programs Study (SWEEP), and the Los Angeles Exploring Children's Early Learning Settings (LAExCELS) datasets.
Sample
The studies included families from middle- and low-income socioeconomic contexts, as well as racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity. A total of 701 programs and classrooms and 2,962 children are included in the Multi-State and SWEEP datasets.
The malleable factor explored in this project was individual child engagement in academic content and experiences with teachers.
Research design and methods
The researchers examined direct classroom observations, time-sampling of child engagement, and child assessments in this study. They used secondary data analyses to examine if children's average engagement, variability in engagement, and cross-content interactions in center-based preschool settings predict child outcomes. They also examined the extent to which this relation differed based on dual-language learner status and racial and ethnic groups.
Key measures
An intensive time-sampling measure of individual and group-level engagement, the Emerging Academics Snapshot, was available in all three datasets. The measure included academic content codes (e.g., math, oral language, social studies), children's engagement with teachers (e.g., scaffolded and didactic approaches, social integration), and activity settings (e.g., whole group, free-choice). Child outcomes included measures of language, literacy, math, social skills, and executive function.
Data analytic strategy
The researchers used a person-centered approach to create an analysis variable that reflects sustained engagement of individual children in pre-academic content. They used hierarchical linear regression models to explore variations between children's engagement with teachers and academic content within classrooms. They used classroom fixed effects which allowed them to directly compare the role of variation of individual children's engagement among children in the same classroom and to isolate the role of individual engagement beyond any classroom-level factor and non-random selection into classrooms.
Key outcomes
The main findings of this project will be shared once they are publicly available in peer-reviewed publications.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
Publications:
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Questions about this project?
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