Head Start’s 11th Annual Research Conference, “Research on Young Children and Families: Effective Practices in an Age of Diversity and Change,” is being held June 18-20, 2012, at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, DC. MDRC researchers are scheduled to make the following presentations:

Monday, June 18, 2012, 3:30-5:30 pm

Poster Sessions (Constitution Ballroom)

M17: Scale-Up and Replication in Early Childhood Coaching: Lessons Learned About Coaching Implementation

• Emily Modlin (MDRC) and Chrishana Lloyd (MDRC)

Coaches play a central role in strengthening teachers’ practices, which, by extension, can improve classroom experiences for children. Although teachers and classrooms can benefit from the support of a coach, the coaching system, as a whole, is underutilized and perhaps underdeveloped in most school settings. This poster presents preliminary lessons learned about the coaching process in a large-scale, federally funded, geographically diverse demonstration project.

M116: Can a Two-Generational, Early Childhood Program Improve Outcomes for Low-Income Parents and Their Young Children? Results from a Rigorous Longitudinal Evaluation of Early Head Start Enhanced With Parental Employment and Self-Sufficiency Services

• JoAnn Hsueh (MDRC) and Mary Farrell (MEF Associates)

Implementation and impact results are reported from a rigorous evaluation of a two-generation early childhood education program (Early Head Start) that was enhanced by services aimed at proactively addressing the employment and economic self-sufficiency needs of low-income parents. This is one of the first large-scale, random-assignment, longitudinal evaluations of a two-generational early childhood education program that has been enhanced by parental employment, educational, and self-sufficiency services.

Tuesday, June 19, 3:15-5:00 pm

Lessons Learned about Implementation Fidelity of Three Social Emotional Approaches in Head Start (217 Bulfinch/Latrobe/Burnham)

• Chair: Lauren Supplee (Administration for Children and Families)
• Discussant: Tammy Mann (Campagna Center)
• Presenters: Chrishana Lloyd (MDRC) and Shira Kolnik Mattera (MDRC)

The Head Start CARES Demonstration is a large-scale national research study that is designed to test the effects of programs to strengthen children’s social and emotional development in Head Start settings. Three programs — The Incredible Years, Preschool PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies), and Tools of the Mind — were implemented by preschool teachers over the course of one academic year. Teachers received support for implementation via a professional development package that included training and classroom coaching. The presenters will provide an overview of Head Start CARES project design and implementation, including descriptions of the preschool context and the quality and dosage of key intervention components (classroom implementation, coaching, and training). They will also share the challenges and facilitators of implementation, as well as preliminary lessons for scaling up social and emotional programs in Head Start settings.

Wednesday, June 20, 10:15 am-12:00 noon

Linkages Between Quality and Child Outcomes: Deepening Our Understanding (306 Wilson/Roosevelt)

• Chair: Ivelisse Martinez-Beck (Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation)
• Discussant: Martha Zaslow (Society for Research in Child Development)
• Presenters: Margaret Burchinal (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Yange Xue (Mathematica Policy Research), Pamela Morris (MDRC/New York University)

Federal, state, and local policymakers seek guidance on the dimensions of child care quality that relate to children’s positive developmental outcomes. Emerging research examines associations between the quality of early care and education settings and child outcomes, asking whether certain thresholds or dosages of high-quality care need to be met, or particular aspects of quality need to be present before linkages are apparent. This session will present recent findings from a comprehensive literature review and secondary data analyses of multiple studies. The following are some key guiding research questions:

• What aspects of quality in center-based early care and education programs serving children from birth through age 5 make a difference in child outcomes? What are the mechanisms by which different quality features support children’s outcomes?
• What thresholds of global quality or specific quality features are needed to support gains in child outcomes? Is there a minimum threshold of quality necessary to affect child outcomes? How well are measures of quality capturing these thresholds?
• What levels of exposure to quality (or dosages) are needed to support gains in child outcomes?

For more information about the Head Start Research Conference, visit the conference website.