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• 11. [Article] Research-to-Practice Brief: Promising Evidence that Early Head Start Can Prevent Child Maltreatment

  This brief addresses two main questions in a sample of Early Head Start eligible children: 1) the number and type of maltreatment episodes and 2) the impact of Early Head Start on child and family involvement ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Research-to-Practice Brief: Promising Evidence that Early Head Start Can Prevent Child Maltreatment Author: Chazan-Cohen, Rachel, Green, Beth L., Ayoub, Catherine, Bartlett, Jessica Dym, Von Ende, Adam, Furrer, Carrie Jeanne Year: 2015 This brief addresses two main questions in a sample of Early Head Start eligible children: 1) the number and type of maltreatment episodes and 2) the impact of Early Head Start on child and family involvement in the child welfare system. These findings are especially important given the lack of scalable and effective preventive interventions. In addition, they are also timely given the recent interest in fostering collaborations between early care and education programs and child welfare agencies, agencies responsible for overseeing child protection from maltreatment (OHS & ACYF, 2010; ACYF & OHS, 2011; ACYF & OCC, 2011). The current study represents a first look at the impact of Early Head Start on child maltreatment. We are continuing to collect data and will have more information in the upcoming years. Title: Research-to-Practice Brief: Promising Evidence that Early Head Start Can Prevent Child Maltreatment Author: Chazan-Cohen, Rachel, Green, Beth L., Ayoub, Catherine, Bartlett, Jessica Dym, Von Ende, Adam, Furrer, Carrie Jeanne Year: 2015 This brief addresses two main questions in a sample of Early Head Start eligible children: 1) the number and type of maltreatment episodes and 2) the impact of Early Head Start on child and family involvement in the child welfare system. These findings are especially important given the lack of scalable and effective preventive interventions. In addition, they are also timely given the recent interest in fostering collaborations between early care and education programs and child welfare agencies, agencies responsible for overseeing child protection from maltreatment (OHS & ACYF, 2010; ACYF & OHS, 2011; ACYF & OCC, 2011). The current study represents a first look at the impact of Early Head Start on child maltreatment. We are continuing to collect data and will have more information in the upcoming years. Close

• 12. [Article] It’s Not as Simple as it Sounds: Problems and Solutions in Accessing and Using Administrative Child Welfare Data for Evaluating the Impact of Early Childhood Interventions

  In recent years, there has been increasing interest in using administrative data collected by state child welfare agencies as a source of information for research and evaluation. The challenges of obtaining ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: It’s Not as Simple as it Sounds: Problems and Solutions in Accessing and Using Administrative Child Welfare Data for Evaluating the Impact of Early Childhood Interventions Author: Green, Beth L., Ayoub, Catherine, Bartlett, Jessica Dym, Furrer, Carrie Jeanne, Von Ende, Adam, Chazen-Cohen, Rachel, Klevens, Joanne, Nygren, Peggy Year: 2015 In recent years, there has been increasing interest in using administrative data collected by state child welfare agencies as a source of information for research and evaluation. The challenges of obtaining access to and using these data, however, have not been well documented. This study describes the processes used to access child welfare records in six different states and the approach to combining and using the information gathered to evaluate the impact of the Early Head Start program on children’s involvement with the child welfare system from birth through age eleven. We provide “lessons learned” for researchers who are attempting to use this information, including being prepared for long delays in access to information, the need for deep understanding of how child welfare agencies record and code information, and for considerable data management work for translating agency records into analysis-ready datasets. While accessing and using this information is not easy, and the data have a number of limitations, we suggest that the benefits can outweigh the challenges and that these records can be a useful source of information for policy-relevant child welfare research. Title: It’s Not as Simple as it Sounds: Problems and Solutions in Accessing and Using Administrative Child Welfare Data for Evaluating the Impact of Early Childhood Interventions Author: Green, Beth L., Ayoub, Catherine, Bartlett, Jessica Dym, Furrer, Carrie Jeanne, Von Ende, Adam, Chazen-Cohen, Rachel, Klevens, Joanne, Nygren, Peggy Year: 2015 In recent years, there has been increasing interest in using administrative data collected by state child welfare agencies as a source of information for research and evaluation. The challenges of obtaining access to and using these data, however, have not been well documented. This study describes the processes used to access child welfare records in six different states and the approach to combining and using the information gathered to evaluate the impact of the Early Head Start program on children’s involvement with the child welfare system from birth through age eleven. We provide “lessons learned” for researchers who are attempting to use this information, including being prepared for long delays in access to information, the need for deep understanding of how child welfare agencies record and code information, and for considerable data management work for translating agency records into analysis-ready datasets. While accessing and using this information is not easy, and the data have a number of limitations, we suggest that the benefits can outweigh the challenges and that these records can be a useful source of information for policy-relevant child welfare research. Close

• 13. [Article] Evaluation of the Start Making a Reader Today (SMART)

  The goal of the Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) program is to support young children to develop early reading and literacy skills, as well as to increase their interest, confidence, and enthusiasm ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Evaluation of the Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) Author: Green, Beth L., Cross-Hemmer, Amanda, Mitchell, Lorelei Year: 2014 The goal of the Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) program is to support young children to develop early reading and literacy skills, as well as to increase their interest, confidence, and enthusiasm about reading. SMART pairs trained adult volunteers with PreK-3 rd grade children, primarily in schools serving significant proportions of low-income families. Thus, SMART augments the one-on-one reading support available in typical elementary schools. Volunteers read to children for 30 minutes, either once or twice a week, and provide books that children can take home and keep for themselves. Prior evaluation research (Baker, Gersten, & Keating, 2000) found that children who participated in SMART had better word identification and comprehension skills compared to similar children randomly assigned to a control group. However, since this study was conducted, the SMART model has evolved; in particular, the recognition that many children start kindergarten lacking basic early literacy skills led the SMART program to develop and implement two “early” SMART models: PreK SMART, implemented in prekindergarten programs with 3-5 year olds, and KSMART, implemented in kindergarten classrooms. The PreK and KSMART models differ somewhat from SMART services provided to older children. One key difference is the use of a universal model in which all children in a classroom receive support from a SMART reader. This is in contrast to a targeted model in which only children with identified literacy concerns are selected to participate in SMART services. Universal provision of SMART services helps both reduce any stigma associated with participation in SMART, as well as ensuring that all children have the potential to benefit from reading support in the critical early years. PreK and KSMART reading sessions are also somewhat shorter than sessions for older children, as these children are not developmentally ready to be read to for long periods of time. PreK and K SMART sessions are approximately 15- 20 minutes long. Finally, providing books for young children to bring home is a key part of PreK and KSMART service models, with all participating children receiving 2 books per month to keep for themselves. The purpose of this evaluation was to begin to understand the effectiveness of these early SMART models in building young children’s interest and confidence in reading. In Year 1, several major tasks were accomplished: identification of measureable outcomes appropriate for PreK and KSMART; development of a tool for measuring such outcomes; and implementation of a streamlined, user-friendly data collection process that would not create undue burden on project partners. To assess preliminary outcomes and prepare for a larger roll-out of the evaluation in Year 2, the data collection tool and process was piloted with an initial group of PreK and kindergarten classrooms. Early results suggested that the tool was indeed capturing the dimensions of interest, but the relatively small sample size also limited interpretation of the initial findings. Thus, a major goal for Year 2 was to recruit additional classrooms and increase sample size. Unfortunately, some challenges were encountered in Year 2 in recruiting school sites (kindergarten classrooms) for participation, particularly in recruiting control classrooms. Likewise, unavoidable factors such as teacher turnover ultimately reduced the number of classrooms reporting complete data. As a result, the decision was made to combine the data from Year 1 and Year 2, in order maximize sample size for the purposes of analysis. This report summarizes the combined findings from Year 1 and Year 2 (2012-2014) of the evaluation. Title: Evaluation of the Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) Author: Green, Beth L., Cross-Hemmer, Amanda, Mitchell, Lorelei Year: 2014 The goal of the Start Making a Reader Today (SMART) program is to support young children to develop early reading and literacy skills, as well as to increase their interest, confidence, and enthusiasm about reading. SMART pairs trained adult volunteers with PreK-3 rd grade children, primarily in schools serving significant proportions of low-income families. Thus, SMART augments the one-on-one reading support available in typical elementary schools. Volunteers read to children for 30 minutes, either once or twice a week, and provide books that children can take home and keep for themselves. Prior evaluation research (Baker, Gersten, & Keating, 2000) found that children who participated in SMART had better word identification and comprehension skills compared to similar children randomly assigned to a control group. However, since this study was conducted, the SMART model has evolved; in particular, the recognition that many children start kindergarten lacking basic early literacy skills led the SMART program to develop and implement two “early” SMART models: PreK SMART, implemented in prekindergarten programs with 3-5 year olds, and KSMART, implemented in kindergarten classrooms. The PreK and KSMART models differ somewhat from SMART services provided to older children. One key difference is the use of a universal model in which all children in a classroom receive support from a SMART reader. This is in contrast to a targeted model in which only children with identified literacy concerns are selected to participate in SMART services. Universal provision of SMART services helps both reduce any stigma associated with participation in SMART, as well as ensuring that all children have the potential to benefit from reading support in the critical early years. PreK and KSMART reading sessions are also somewhat shorter than sessions for older children, as these children are not developmentally ready to be read to for long periods of time. PreK and K SMART sessions are approximately 15- 20 minutes long. Finally, providing books for young children to bring home is a key part of PreK and KSMART service models, with all participating children receiving 2 books per month to keep for themselves. The purpose of this evaluation was to begin to understand the effectiveness of these early SMART models in building young children’s interest and confidence in reading. In Year 1, several major tasks were accomplished: identification of measureable outcomes appropriate for PreK and KSMART; development of a tool for measuring such outcomes; and implementation of a streamlined, user-friendly data collection process that would not create undue burden on project partners. To assess preliminary outcomes and prepare for a larger roll-out of the evaluation in Year 2, the data collection tool and process was piloted with an initial group of PreK and kindergarten classrooms. Early results suggested that the tool was indeed capturing the dimensions of interest, but the relatively small sample size also limited interpretation of the initial findings. Thus, a major goal for Year 2 was to recruit additional classrooms and increase sample size. Unfortunately, some challenges were encountered in Year 2 in recruiting school sites (kindergarten classrooms) for participation, particularly in recruiting control classrooms. Likewise, unavoidable factors such as teacher turnover ultimately reduced the number of classrooms reporting complete data. As a result, the decision was made to combine the data from Year 1 and Year 2, in order maximize sample size for the purposes of analysis. This report summarizes the combined findings from Year 1 and Year 2 (2012-2014) of the evaluation. Close