Page 8 - Microsoft Word - School Readiness and Parenting Outcomes from ECE-Full Report.doc

INCREASES IN SCHOOL READINESS FOR UNDERSERVED CHILDREN Developmental Increases for Infants and Toddlers
Areas of school readiness for young children show positive developmental growth in CCRC’s FCCHEN program. Throughout their enrollment in the FCCHEN program children are assessed using the DRDP-R assessment tool for Infants and Toddlers on average every 6 months. One child was assessed at a 5-month interval, six were assessed at a 7-month interval and the remaining 21 children were assessed at a 6-month interval. The average age at the first assessment was 1.5 years (ranging from 2 months to 2 years 4 months) and the average age at the second assessment was 2 years (ranging from 8 months to 2 years 10 months).
Please see the Appendix for a listing of the specific areas of development that were measured. The Appendix also presents the Alpha Coefficient for each subscale of the DRDP-R. All are above .80, illustrating that each group of items measures the same underlying construct.
All areas of development increased significantly across the 6 month assessment period.
To evaluate and ensure positive developmental growth for infants and toddlers we conducted dependent-groups t-tests on all individual items as well as on all composites (groups of items that measure the same developmental construct). Twenty-eight (28) infants and toddlers were enrolled and assessed at 2 time points between September 2008 and August 2009. All areas of development increased significantly across the 6 month assessment period
(p < .01).
All children showed an increase from pre- to posttest on the overall assessment average.
Another method of assessing growth is to consider percent change from the first to the second assessment for each individual child. All 28 children (100%) showed an increase from pre to posttest on the overall assessment average. Table B below communicates the percentage of children who increased in their development in each of the domains of interest. Although it may appear that children are not progressing in literacy, some children were very young at the first assessment (i.e., 2 months of age), resulting in little change in literacy knowledge and some of the older children who did not change were at the upper end of the developmental spectrum at the first assessment. Detailed review of each child’s progression revealed that the children are where they would be expected for their age. Unfortunately, the DRDP-R does not have age norms and therefore we use expert opinion (program and research) on whether the children are where they should be for their age. The children in this program are enrolled until there is no longer a need in the family for child care and therefore, the developmental progression seen here will only continue to rise.
CCRC’s infant/toddler programs lead to statistically significant developmental gains in areas that prepare children for their future in school: self concept, social interpersonal skills, self regulation, language, learning, cognitive competence, math, literacy, motor skills, and safety and health.
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