Overview
Project Upgrade was a two-year experimental test of the effectiveness of three different language and literacy interventions, implemented in child care centers in Miami-Dade County that served children from low-income families. One hundred and sixty-two centers were randomly assigned to one of three research-based curricula or to a control group that continued with its existing program. The curricula, while grounded in a common set of research findings, differed in intensity, pedagogic strategies and use of technology. In each center, one classroom that served four-year-old children was selected for the study. Teachers and aides assigned to the three treatment groups received initial and follow-up training as well as ongoing mentoring over a period of approximately 18 months, from Fall 2003 to Spring 2005.
The study looked at two kinds of outcomes: teacher behavior and interactions with children, and aspects of the classroom environment that support children’s language and literacy development, measured through direct observation; and children’s language and pre-literacy skills, measured by their performance on a standardized assessment. Study staff conducted classroom observations in Fall 2003, Spring 2004 and Spring 2005. Four-year-old children in the study classrooms were assessed in Spring 2005.
Project period is 9/30/2001-9/29/2009 and the point of contact is Ivelisse Martinez-Beck. Ask a Question.
Background
Project Upgrade is one of four experiments conducted as part of the Evaluation of Child Care Subsidy Strategies, a study launched in 2001 by the Child Care Bureau and the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services. The study is being conducted by Abt Associates Inc, with its research partners MDRC and the National Center for Children in Poverty of Columbia University.
The evaluation is a multi-site, multi-year effort to gather research evidence that will inform policy decision-making in states and communities and effective allocation of child care subsidy funds. In particular, the study will determine whether and how different child care subsidy policies and procedures and quality improvement efforts help low-income parents obtain and hold onto jobs and improve outcomes for children. Study staff worked with states and communities across the country to identify significant issues and develop hypotheses about the use of child care subsidy funds that could be rigorously tested in a series of experiments. A guiding principle of the study was that state (or community) interests and preferences would play a large role in the choice of research topics and strategies. Study sites and focus of evaluation include:
- effectiveness of three language and literacy curricula on teaching practices and children’s language and literacy outcomes (finished in 2005 in Miami, Dade County, FLA);
- effectiveness of training on Learning Games curriculum in changing care-giving practices in family child care homes and children’s developmental outcomes (Massachusetts);
- impact of alternative eligibility and re-determination child care subsidy policies on parental employment outcomes (Illinois); and,
- impact of alternative child care co-payment structures on use of child care subsidies and employment outcomes (Washington State).