Three research designs that hold educator or child constant to disaggregate child and educator inputs to ECEC quality¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 review), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

Drawing on behavioural-genetics design logic (e.g., monozygotic twins holding genetics constant), the article proposes three designs that hold educator or child 'constant' within the ECEC context: a same educator different day design exploiting daily composition change; a same educator different event design observing the same educators across activities presenting different levels of demand (transitions, mealtimes and sleep times are more challenging while free play is less demanding); and a same child different educator design following focal children longitudinally across educator transitions. Together these disaggregate child and educator contributions to interactional quality.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Finer-grained, individualised measurement of each child's input within the class group and across varied activities of the ECEC day

Constraints¶

• The same educator different event design depends on evidence that some activities present greater general demand; the article notes times of high demand are associated with reduced observed quality and greater variability

Target Learners¶

• Children attending ECEC centre-based and daycare services

Target Learning Goals¶

• Understanding mechanisms connecting child inputs, classroom interactional quality, and child development outcomes

Claims¶

• Class composition indexing demand on educators (younger age, higher learning needs, disadvantage, minority status) is associated with reduced observed interactional quality in ECEC, with no association for gender [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Bly, S., Houen, S., Staton, S., & Thorpe, K. (2026). Community, Children, Child: New Directions for Equitable Delivery Of High-Quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10215-7