Prior meta-analyses report few or weak associations between ECEC quality indices and child progress, with process quality more predictive than structural quality¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · quant-synthesis r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2024 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The review reports, citing Brunsek et al. (2017) and Egert et al. (2018), that aggregated quality indices show few or weak associations across domains of child progress. → Steven J. Howard 2024 q2 i? The review reports, citing Keys et al. (2013), that process quality tends to be more predictive of child outcomes than structural quality factors, and scales privileging process aspects such as CLASS show more reliable prediction. → Steven J. Howard 2024 (2)

Evidence¶

Steven J. Howard 2024¶

Steven J. Howard, Kate L. Lewis, Emma Walter, Irina Verenikina, & Lisa K. Kervin. (2024). Measuring the Quality of Adult–Child Interactions in the Context of ECEC: a Systematic Review on the Relationship with Developmental and Educational Outcomes. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09832-3

q2 · i? · quant-synthesis · r2

Narrative review of previous reviews on ECEC quality; the review attributes this finding to the cited meta-analyses, which were confined to particular quality measures.

"recent meta-analyses have found that various quality indices show, upon aggregation of findings, few or weak associations across various domains of child progress (Brunsek et al., 2017; Egert et al., 2018)."

Steven J. Howard 2024 (2)¶

Steven J. Howard, Kate L. Lewis, Emma Walter, Irina Verenikina, & Lisa K. Kervin. (2024). Measuring the Quality of Adult–Child Interactions in the Context of ECEC: a Systematic Review on the Relationship with Developmental and Educational Outcomes. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-023-09832-3

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review attributes this broad conclusion to Keys et al. (2013), noting these prior reviews focused on particular contexts and/or quality measures, precluding focus on specific dimensions and conditions.

"process quality tends to be more predictive of child outcomes than structural quality factors and scales and subscales that privilege these aspects, such as CLASS, tend to show more reliable prediction (Keys et al., 2013)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The review's evidence base comprises 90 studies reporting 870 associations of interaction quality with child developmental and educational outcomes, covering 108,693 children — related
• Global ECEC quality indices show little evidence of relating to child outcomes — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• National quality rating systems show divergent operationalisations across countries, and links between ratings and child development are often shielded from scrutiny — related
• Measures of individual children's experiences within the ECEC group predict child development outcomes with higher effect sizes than global quality measures — related
• Interventions that change educator behaviour to match standard global definitions of quality have delivered negligible effects on children's developmental outcomes — related
• In-service professional development for ECEC teachers produces a medium improvement in externally rated process quality (ES = 0.68) — related
• Quality measures vary widely in foci, observation approach and index derivation, obscuring which specific characteristics drive stronger child outcomes — related