PROTOCOL: Adult/child ratio and group size in early childhood education or care to promote the development of children aged 0–5 years: A systematic review

Abstract

This is the protocol for a Campbell review. The objectives are as follows: To synthesize data from studies to assess the impact of adult/child ratio and group size in ECEC on measures of process characteristics of quality of care and on child outcome measures.

Adult/child ratio and group size in early childhood education or care to promote the development of children aged 0–5 years: A systematic review

“…In the protocol, we stated that we would only extract outcomes, if they had been validated on other samples than the intervention sample (researcher observations, caregiver or parental ratings) (Dalgaard et al, 2020). However, due to the very limited number of included studies within this review, we decided to include measures, which had not been validated on other samples, if they were deemed high on face validity and provided a measure of interrater reliability.…”

“…The sensitivity checks were generally restricted by the small number of studies. We followed our protocol (Dalgaard et al, 2020) to the extent it was possible, but some pre‐specified analyses were not feasible or sensible in this review, as there are either none or just a single study available. For example, restricting the analysis to only include studies with ‘low risk of bias’ on a given risk of bias item sometimes reduced the sample to one study or no studies at all.…”

“…As stated in the protocol (Dalgaard et al, 2020), we aimed to be able to distinguish between interventions that change the adult‐child ratio, the group size, or both the ratio and the group size. However, this was not possible due to the low number of included studies, which could be used in the meta‐analysis.…”

Child well‐being in early childhood education and care during COVID‐19: Child sensitivity in small, fixed groups

“…A Norwegian study supports the idea that behaviour problems and difficulties for children in developing their language occur in large child groups (Skalická et al, 2015 ). A recent review of the impact of adult/child ratio and group size in ECEC settings summarises that when the adult/child ratio is increased (fewer children per adult) and group sizes are decreased, the number of interactions between each child and an adult increases, and the nature of the exchanges becomes more stimulating and nurturing for the child (Dalgaard et al, 2020 ).…”

“…In general, pedagogues working with fewer children in a group tend to be more sensitive, responsive, warm and encouraging towards them; the pedagogues in these situations have been found to exhibit more positive affects and provide more varied activities for the children. In contrast, when working with big groups, pedagogues tend to become more focused on managing and controlling the children's behaviour, exert more negative control and use less dialogue or playful interaction (Dalgaard et al, 2020 ). The professionals' degree of openness and sensitive empathy in what the children communicate (verbally and non‐verbally) is crucial for including children's perspectives in pedagogical work, which is considered of great importance according to the Danish Day Care Act.…”