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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Contact: Tara Wall
(202) 401-9215
Targeted Teacher Training Produces Improved Outcomes for Children
WASHINGTON, D.C. --- Teachers who received targeted training and technical assistance were able to improve young children’s development of language skills, according to a federal report.
“When it’s paired with mentoring, training in language and literacy can help teachers change the way they teach so they are more focused on helping children improve their language skills,” said HHS Assistant Secretary for Children and Families Wade F. Horn, Ph.D. “This study also shows that quality training and a good curriculum can make a difference regardless of teacher credentials when it comes to helping children develop critical early language and literacy skills.”
The report, “Findings from Project Upgrade,” presents results from a two-year experimental evaluation of the effectiveness of three different language and literacy interventions. The interventions were implemented in child care centers in Miami-Dade County that served children from low-income families. One hundred and sixty-two centers participated in the evaluation. The evaluation looked at the impact of targeted training on teacher behavior; interactions with children; aspects of the classroom environment that support children’s language and literacy development (measured through direct observations); and children’s language and pre-literacy skills, measured by their performance on a standardized assessment.
Highlights of findings include:
- Across all groups, assessments before the training interventions started showed teachers engaged in few behaviors known to support children’s language and literacy.
- The interventions led to changes in teachers’ behaviors and interactions with children, including substantial increases in the time spent on language and literacy activities.
- The impacts of the intervention were generally stronger for teachers whose primary language was Spanish than for their English-speaking counterparts.
- Two of the three interventions showed effects on language and literacy developmental areas in children. This effect was greater for children in classrooms with Spanish-speaking teachers.
- The impacts of the interventions were similar for teachers with different levels of education and previous training, showing that teachers at all levels of educational attainment can benefit from targeted training and mentoring.
- The two interventions that affected children’s language and literacy skills brought children close to or above national norms on three of the four skills measured, representing between four and nine months of developmental growth.
This study is part of a larger project to test the effectiveness of child care subsidy policies and strategies to improve outcomes related to parents’ employment and self-sufficiency, quality of care and children’s development and school readiness.
The report can be viewed at:
HTML:
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/cc/upgrade_miami_dade/reports/upgrade_miami_dade/miami_title.html
PDF:
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/opre/cc/upgrade_miami_dade/reports/upgrade_miami_dade/upgrade_miami_dade.pdf (352kb)###
Note: All ACF news releases, fact sheets and other materials are available at www.acf.hhs.gov/opa/index.html.