Harvard Zaentz Initiative and Abt Launch First Comprehensive Study of Early Learning in Massachusetts
ROCKVILLE, Md. (PRWEB) December 13, 2018 -- Abt Associates is partnering with the Harvard University Zaentz Early Education Initiative to carry out the Early Learning Study at Harvard (ELS@H). The study is the first of its kind: a statewide assessment of young children's learning and development in Massachusetts in the context of their early learning settings.
ELS@H’s unique features include its large-scale, longitudinal design and population-based sample of approximately 5,000 young children. The data from the ongoing study will allow us to address nuanced questions about scaling the features of early learning settings that contribute to children's long‐term health and well-being.
Families rely on a variety of settings to meet the educational and care needs of their young children. Much of the research on early learning and care to date focuses on those children spending time in formal classroom-based settings. ELS@H’s representative sample of up to 5,000 3- and 4-year-old children includes those enrolled in formal programs and also encompasses those in informal settings and being cared for at home. To start to create this sample, we launched a statewide household survey in which 96 trained field workers visited 90,544 households to recruit 3- and 4-year-olds and their families to the Early Learning Study.
Findings from the household survey include the following:
- - Licensed center-based care is by far the most common setting for 3- and 4-year-olds in Massachusetts, serving 32 percent of children. The next most common types of care are provided by parents/guardians and relatives (17 percent each). Another noteworthy pattern is that 16 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds spend at least 8 hours per week in two or more non-parental care settings, suggesting that some families may have difficulty finding one setting that meets all of their needs.
- - Within these findings, the patterns of early education and care for 4-year-olds in the state are distinct from those for 3-year-olds. Four-year olds are more likely than 3-year-olds to be in formal care (60 percent versus 50 percent) or in a combination of formal and informal care (18 percent versus 10 percent), and less likely to rely on parent care only (14 percent versus 20 percent). These differences may be due to a variety of reasons, including a parental preference to keep younger preschoolers in home environments or differences in access to formal education and care settings. Determining these reasons will be a driver for future valuable research.
“Ultimately, the findings from the Early Learning study will help the field better understand how all of the different kinds of environments where young children spend time—including less formal and regulated settings that we know very little about—are related to their early academic, social and regulatory skills,” said Abt Project Director and Senior Associate Amy Checkoway.
Stephanie Jones, Ph.D., Gerald S. Lesser Professor of Early Childhood Development, and Nonie Lesaux, Ph.D., academic dean and the Juliana W. and William Foss Thompson Professor of Education and Society, are the lead principal investigators from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Barbara Goodson, Ph.D., Abt principal scientist, is the lead investigator on the Abt team.
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About Abt Associates
Abt Associates is an engine for social impact, dedicated to moving people from vulnerability to security. Harnessing the power of data and our experts’ insights, we provide research, consulting and technical services globally in the areas of health, environmental and social policy, technology and international development. http://www.abtassociates.com
Amy Dunaway, Abt Associates, https://abtassociates.com, 3013475056, [email protected]
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