The study has to be about outcomes associated with school readiness of young children with disabilities. The study must focus on the effects of an intervention, not on individual differences e. Time frame relevance. The study must have been publicly released in or later 4 and obtained by the WWC prior to drafting the intervention report. This time frame was established in order to define a realistic scope of work for the review.
Sample relevance. The study has to satisfy several sample-related criteria:. Study design relevance. Only empirical studies that use quantitative methods and inferential statistical analysis and that take the form of a randomized controlled trial RCT , or use a regression-discontinuity design, a quasi-experimental design QED , or a single-case experimental design, are eligible for this review.
The WWC is in the process of developing standards for reviewing and reporting on regression-discontinuity and single-case design studies. Consequently, studies using these designs will be included in the review when the standards become available. Until then, they are included in the report references with a note indicating that standards are not yet available for that research design.
Outcome relevance. Studies in this topic area are required to focus on child outcomes, not teacher outcomes or other outcomes, and must include at least one relevant child outcome for which adequate content validity and reliability as defined later have been demonstrated. Studies that focus on outcomes measured in languages other than English are excluded e. Specific Topic Parameters Characteristics of eligible early childhood education interventions for children with disabilities Elements of intervention replicability Outcomes for children with disabilities Reliability and validity of outcome measures Time interval in which studies should have been conducted to be appropriate for the intervention report Defining characteristics of the study population Effectiveness of the intervention across subgroups of children Effectiveness of the intervention across settings Attrition Group equivalence Statistical and analytical issues The following parameters specify which studies are considered for analyses and which aspects of those studies are coded for review.
Characteristics of eligible early childhood education interventions for children with disabilities. Eligible interventions have as their primary goal enhancing outcomes associated with the school readiness of preschool children. Eligible interventions. The important characteristics of an intervention that must be documented in a study so that it can be replicated reliably with different participants, in other settings, and at other times include the following:.
To be included in the review, a study must include at least one relevant child outcome that is intentionally targeted by the intervention and measured directly by administering an assessment to the child or conducting an observation of the child. The alignment between the outcome and the intervention is another factor considered in the review. Outcome measures that are closely aligned or tailored to the intervention are likely to demonstrate larger effect sizes than those that are less closely aligned with the intervention.
When the outcome measure includes some of the same materials such as books or passages that are used in the intervention or is administered to the intervention group as part of the intervention, it is considered to be overaligned with the intervention.
The benefits of early childhood education interventions for children with disabilities are intended to be retained well past the end of the intervention. Thus, measures at the end of an intervention, as well as any time thereafter, are admissible. This review, however, prioritizes immediate posttest findings for developing intervention ratings and improvement indices because these findings are most prevalent.
The review includes additional follow-up findings, when available and appropriate, in appendices to the report. Reliability and validity of outcome measures. The study must include at least one child outcome measure with evidence of face validity and for outcomes that are tests or scales, sufficient score reliability assessed using the standards listed here as determined by the WWC.
If studies did not analyze the score reliability of outcome measures using study data, and analyses by test publishers or other researchers did not include children with disabilities, any other available evidence of score reliability and validity of the measure for the study population will be considered, and a decision about the adequacy of the outcome measure will be made on a case-by-case basis in consultation with experts.
The standards are. If an outcome measure is composed of different tests for different children in the sample, it will be considered a valid outcome if the following criteria are met:. If information necessary to apply these criteria is not available in the article, an author query will be initiated to obtain the information. Time interval in which studies should have been conducted to be appropriate for the intervention report.
Defining characteristics of the study population. Effectiveness of the intervention across subgroups of children. For studies of early childhood education interventions for children with disabilities, important subgroup characteristics include. When a study that meets WWC evidence standards reports intervention effects for these subgroup types and the subgroup analyses meet all of the WWC standards required for the full sample results, these effects and analyses will be included in an appendix to the intervention report.
Effectiveness of the intervention across settings. A study that seeks to test the effectiveness of an intervention might examine effects across different settings. For studies of early childhood education interventions for preschool children with disabilities, these settings might be defined by. When a study that meets WWC evidence standards reports intervention effects separately for these settings, and the analyses of results by setting meet all of the WWC standards required for the full sample results, these effects and analyses will be included in an appendix to the intervention report.
This reflects the assumption that most attrition in studies of early childhood education interventions for children with disabilities is due to exogenous factors, such as parent mobility and absences on the days that assessments are conducted. Many studies reviewed by the WWC are based on designs with multiple levels. Bias can be generated not only from the loss of clusters such as schools , but also from sample members within the clusters such as students , if those sample members attrit as a result of their treatment status.
The attrition standard applies to both levels. To meet the standard, a study must first pass at the cluster level, using the attrition boundary set above. Second, the study must pass at the subcluster level, again using the attrition boundary set above, with attrition based only on the clusters still in the sample.
That is, the denominator for the subcluster attrition calculation includes only sample members at schools or classrooms that remain in the study after cluster attrition. Group equivalence. If the study design is an RCT with high levels of attrition or a QED, the study must demonstrate baseline equivalence of the intervention and comparison groups for the analytic sample.
The onus for demonstrating equivalence in these studies rests with the author. Sufficient reporting of pre-intervention data should be included in the study report or obtained from the study author to allow the review team to draw conclusions about the equivalence of the intervention and comparison groups.
Pre-intervention characteristics can include the outcome measure s administered prior to the intervention or other measures that are not the same as, but are highly related to, the outcome measure s. For this topic area, it is possible for a study to meet evidence standards in one or more domains and not in others. Thus, rules for establishing baseline equivalence should be applied within each domain.
Groups are considered equivalent if the reported differences in pre-intervention characteristics of the groups are less than or equal to one-quarter of the pooled standard deviation in the sample, regardless of statistical significance. However, if differences are greater than 0. If pre-intervention differences are greater than 0. Given the potential for selection bias in QEDs, the possibility that the intervention and comparison groups were drawn from different populations is also a concern.
Fundamental differences in the settings from which the intervention and comparison groups in a QED study were drawn and baseline differences in the characteristics of the intervention and comparison groups may indicate that the children in the two groups were drawn from different populations, even if they were equivalent on pretest measures.
Statistically significant or large half a standard deviation or more differences in the characteristics and settings of children in the intervention and comparison groups are evidence that the groups were drawn from different populations, and the study does not meet WWC Evidence Standards. Important characteristics and settings to consider when they are reported include.
Statistical and analytical issues. RCT studies with low attrition do not need to use statistical controls in the analysis, although statistical adjustment for well-implemented RCTs is permissible and can help generate more precise effect-size estimates. For RCTs, the effect-size estimates will be adjusted for differences in pre-intervention characteristics at baseline if available using a difference-in-differences method if the authors did not adjust for pretest see Appendix B of the handbook.
Beyond the pre-intervention characteristics required by the equivalence standard, statistical adjustment can be made for other measures in the analysis as well, although they are not required. For the WWC review, the preference is to report on and calculate effect sizes for post-intervention means adjusted for the pre-intervention measure.
If a study reports both unadjusted and adjusted post-intervention means, the WWC review will report the adjusted means and unadjusted standard deviations. If adjusted post-intervention means are not reported, they will be requested from the authors. The statistical significance of group differences will be recalculated if 1 the study authors did not calculate statistical significance, 2 the study authors did not account for clustering when there was a mismatch between the unit of assignment and the unit of analysis, or 3 the study authors did not account for multiple comparisons when appropriate.
Otherwise, the review team will accept the calculations provided in the study. When a misaligned analysis is reported i. The default intra-class correlations used for this review are 0.
When multiple comparisons are made i. First, the review team will conduct a keyword search to identify interventions with studies that may be eligible for review. Then, the team will conduct focused intervention searches to ensure that all potentially eligible studies of the identified interventions are identified. Each type of search is described next. Skip to Main Content. Search Field. Start Here! A Message from the President. Student Information. Tuition, Fees and General Costs.
Financial Aid. Educational Programs. Developmental Education. Distance Education. Students will be able to evaluate the functional, physical and aesthetic components of space for children. This module may include a two-day observation in a child care centre. The Early Childhood Education: Special Needs Educator program is a comprehensive, hands-on training program that combines courses from both the Early Childhood Education certificate program and the Special Needs Specialization diploma.
It takes caring, compassionate, and patient people to work with children who have special needs. It also requires specific training to ensure all children in an ECE professional's care are receiving the care they need and deserve. Whether working in a public preschool or a private daycare, early childhood educators can benefit greatly from this ECE diploma.
Graduates of the program can acquire a One Year Early Childhood Educator Certification and work full time while collecting the hours required for the next certification, the Five Year Early Childhood Educator Certification. Students will gain a better understanding of themselves through an exploration of their personal attributes, transferable skills and learning styles.
This course will introduce techniques for time, conflict, and stress management and develop interpersonal communication skills. Fundamental study and motivation skills will be covered, preparing students to excel in their program of choice. This course is a broad-based introduction to using a personal computer. It teaches the fundamentals of an operating system and the most popular application software including word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations.
You will also learn about the Internet, Web browsers, electronic mail and antivirus software. The course is based on the Windows 7 operating system, Microsoft office and a variety of popular software programs for the Internet-related and security-related applications. Reggio Emilia approach, Montessori, etc. This module will introduce students to positive communication skills, verbal and non-verbal, in an ever-changing diverse and multicultural environment. Communication, conflict resolution and issue understanding are key elements explored in this module.
The focus will beon workplace conduct, routines and environment, working with children individually, and parent-teacher partnerships, as well as working on a child study of one child focusing on the developmental stages and behaviours of the child.
This module is centred on understanding and facilitating hands-on arts and crafts experience. Students have the opportunity to place developmental theories into practice throughout this module. Assignments include learning to record the behaviour and actions of children involved in the drawing process pedagogical narration , as well as building resource files for future use and preparing activity plans.
This module aims to develop student understanding about the acquisition of language and the benefits of exposure to literature. Strategies to introduce children to age and content appropriate literature will be covered through the study of early childhood experiences in language arts. The language study observation practicum part of ECE usually follows this course to apply theory to practice.
This is a formative, integrated community-based practicum, supervised by a certified early childhood educator sponsor supervisor with additional observation and evaluation by ECE faculty members from the college. This is an opportunity to put theory into practice in a child-care facility in order to develop competency levels. Emphasis at this formative stage of the program is on language and art. Diverse lifestyles, multi-cultural experiences and varied social settings are explored through the construct of imaginative play environments.
Assignments include the development of play prop boxes that can be used to encourage drama in a childcare facility. This module will enable students to build and incorporate science and math activities into the childcare environment.
Students will complete assignments to further their exploration and understanding of science and math learning activities.
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