Effects of professional development training on joint attention engagement in low‐quality childcare centers

Abstract

This study carries forward the exploration of joint attention engagement in children from 18 to 24 months of age enrolled in 'low-quality' childcare centers. Childcare providers and children were videotaped to capture social interactions in the classroom including duration and bids for joint attention. One-half of 48 childcare providers were randomly assigned to receive professional development training (PDT) (the Focus-Follow-Talk ® technique) designed to increase the frequency of joint attention. Three months after the PDT and three coaching visits for each subject in the treatment group, 30 minutes of videotape was recorded and coded for each childcare provider in the treatment and control groups. Significant findings were reported for the trained childcare providers on joint attention engagement duration and total bids for joint attention engagement. There was also evidence supportive of joint attention subtypes.

Does improving joint attention in low‐quality child‐care enhance language development?

“…The reasons for the attrition in both groups varied; however, neither group differed significantly from the beginning group except on the variable of number of teacher changes (children) and length of employment (providers). These two differences are on artefact of remaining in the study for the duration (see Cain et al, 2007, for a detailed description of the attrition).…”

“…More recently, a study by Cain, Rudd, and Saxon (2007) found that child-care providers who had received training in joint attention engaged in more frequent and longer bouts of joint attention than the control group.…”

“…When using the JAOCS, the researcher would make an entry for every verbal expression made by the child-care provider during the 30-minute observation. Each of these verbal events was then labelled according to the Focus-Follow-Talk training (see Cain et al, 2007). The method used to establish inter-rater reliability is described by Bakeman and Gottman (1997).…”

Naptime data meetings to increase the math talk of early care and education providers

“…Various combinations of coursework, workshops, in-class coaching, and mentoring have been found to promote greater sensitivity to children's needs (Cain, Rudd, & Saxon, 2007;Fiene, 2002), more effective teaching interactions (Hamre et al, 2012), increased reflection and intentional practice (Kagle, 2014), improved literacy routines (Byington, 2014;Neuman & Cunningham, 2009;Onchwari & Keengwe, 2008), and overall classroom quality (Burchinal, Cryer, Clifford, & Howes, 2002;Campbell & Milbourne, 2005;Romeyn, 2010) for teachers and assistant teachers in both center-and home-based child care settings. Coursework followed by inclassroom coaching was found to increase classroom math conversations for teachers with 4-year degrees in a university lab school (Rudd, Lambert, Satterwhite, & Smith, 2009).…”

Training Staff to Measure the Engagement of Children with Disabilities in Inclusive Childcare Centres

“…Various measures of engagement have been designed and used in research but there seem to be few measures that can be used by practitioners for measuring individual child engagement (Kishida & Kemp, 2006b). Also, while there is some evidence that practitioners can learn new skills, including observation skills, within a relatively short period (Cain, Rudd, & Saxon, 2007;Hasbrouck, 1997;McBride & Schwartz, 2003;Schepis, Reid, Ownbey, & Parsons, 2001), there seems to be little research targeting practitioners as observers of child engagement.…”