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Are Content-Specific Curricula Differentially Effective in Head Start or State Prekindergarten Classrooms?

ABSTRACT: Head Start and state prekindergarten (pre-K) programs can boost the school readiness of low-income children through the use of effective preschool curricula. Encouraging results from some studies suggest that children who receive targeted or content-specific curricular supplements (e.g., literacy or math) during preschool show moderate to large improvements in that targeted content domain, but recent research also suggests differences in children's school readiness among different preschool program settings. We examine whether children in Head Start or public pre-K classrooms differentially benefit from the use of randomly assigned classroom curricula targeting specific academic domains. Our results indicate that children in both Head Start and public pre-K classrooms benefit from targeted, content-specific curricula. Future research is needed to examine the specific mechanisms and classroom processes through which curricula help improve children's outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Nguyen T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6338416 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Are Content-Specific Curricula Differentially Effective in Head Start or State Prekindergarten Classrooms?

Nguyen Tutrang T Jenkins Jade Marcus JM Whitaker Anamarie Auger AA

AERA open 20180401 2

Head Start and state prekindergarten (pre-K) programs can boost the school readiness of low-income children through the use of effective preschool curricula. Encouraging results from some studies suggest that children who receive targeted or content-specific curricular supplements (e.g., literacy or math) during preschool show moderate to large improvements in that targeted content domain, but recent research also suggests differences in children's school readiness among different preschool prog ...[more]

PMID: 30662928

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Project description:Purpose: To determine the effectiveness of a train-the-trainer program for Community Oral Health Workers (COHWs) with the goal of reducing Early Childhood Caries (ECC). Methods: Thirteen Latina caregivers from a local Early Head Start program participated in an 8 h bilingual oral health training program that provided information and hands-on experiences pertaining to prenatal and children's oral health. Once trained, the 13 COHWs conducted a series of bilingual interactive oral health promotion workshops at local community sites. Pre/post-tests were conducted after each workshop with a total of 157 caregivers of young children. Bivariate analyses were used to assess changes in knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the COHWs and caregivers regarding children's oral health. Results: Significant positive changes (p < 0.05) in COHWs' knowledge were observed for age a child can brush his/her teeth alone and what a pregnant woman with morning sickness can do to protect her teeth. Positive trends were observed for knowing that tap water with fluoride prevents cavities and that poor oral health of parents affects their children's dental health. While community caregivers in the workshops reported a high consumption of sweet snacks and beverages, there was a significant positive increase (p < 0.05) in knowledge and attitudes regarding oral health care. Significant increases in knowledge were obtained regarding: when a child can brush his/her teeth well alone, the age when fluoridated toothpaste can be used, ways tooth decay can be prevented, when a child's first dental visit should be, and what a pregnant woman with morning sickness can do to protect her teeth. Significant positive improvements were found regarding caregiver's favorable attitude that fluoridated water can help prevent cavities, disagreeing that tap water is dangerous, and agreeing that a parent's dental health affects their children's dental health. Conclusions: The study showed a targeted and culturally competent oral health program can significantly improve knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported practices of COHWs and the caregivers they trained. Although longitudinal studies are needed to determine if a COHW model can help reduce ECC in underserved communities, preliminary results support the utilization of this model as a viable option that should be expanded.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Measurement of antenatal care (ANC) service coverage is often limited to the number of contacts or type of providers, reflecting a gap in the assessment of quality as well as cost estimations and health impact. The study aims to determine service subcomponents and provider and patient costs of ANC services and compares them between community (i.e. satellite clinics) and facility care (i.e. primary and secondary health centers) settings in rural Bangladesh. METHODS:Service contents and cost data were collected by one researcher and four interviewers in various community and facility health care settings in Gaibandha district between September and December 2016. We conducted structured interviews with organization managers, observational studies of ANC service provision (n = 70) for service contents and provider costs (service and drug costs) and exit interviews with pregnant women (n = 70) for patient costs (direct and indirect costs) in health clinics at community and facility levels. Fisher's exact tests were used to determine any different patient characteristics between community and facility settings. ANC service contents were assessed by 63 subitems categorized into 11 groups and compared within and across community and facility settings. Provider and patient costs were collected in Bangladesh taka and analyzed as 2016 US Dollars (0.013 exchange rate). RESULTS:We found generally similar provider and patient characteristics between the community and facility settings except in clients' gestational age. High compliance (> 50%) of service subcomponents were observed in blood pressure monitoring, weight measurement, iron and folate supplementation given, and tetanus vaccine, while lower compliance of service subcomponents (< 50%) were observed in some physical examinations such as edema and ultrasonogram and routine tests such as blood test and urine test. Average unit costs of ANC service provision were about double at the facility level ($2.75) compared with community-based care ($1.62). ANC patient costs at facilities ($2.66) were about three times higher than in the community ($0.78). CONCLUSION:The study reveals a delay in pregnant women's initial ANC care seeking, gaps in compliance of ANC subcomponents and difference of provider and patient costs between facility and community settings.

Project description:OBJECTIVE:The WHO recommends responsive caregiving and early learning (RCEL) interventions to improve early child development (ECD), and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals' vision of a world where all children thrive. Implementation of RCEL programmes in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) requires evidence to inform decisions about human resources and curricula content. We aimed to describe human resources and curricula content for implementation of RCEL projects across diverse LMICs, using data from the Grand Challenges Canada Saving Brains ECD portfolio. SETTING:We evaluated 32 RCEL projects across 17 LMICs on four continents. PARTICIPANTS:Overall, 2165 workers delivered ECD interventions to 25?909 families. INTERVENTION:Projects were either stand-alone RCEL or RCEL combined with health and nutrition, and/or safety and security. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES:We undertook a mixed methods evaluation of RCEL projects within the Saving Brains portfolio. Quantitative data were collected through standardised reporting tools. Qualitative data were collected from ECD experts and stakeholders and analysed using thematic content analysis, informed by literature review. RESULTS:Major themes regarding human resources included: worker characteristics, incentivisation, retention, training and supervision, and regarding curricula content: flexible adaptation of content and delivery, fidelity, and intervention duration and dosage. Lack of an agreed standard ECD package contributed to project heterogeneity. Incorporation of ECD into existing services may facilitate scale-up but overburdened workers plus potential reductions in service quality remain challenging. Supportive training and supervision, inducement, worker retention, dosage and delivery modality emerged as key implementation decisions. CONCLUSIONS:This mixed methods evaluation of a multicountry ECD portfolio identified themes for consideration by policymakers and programme leaders relevant to RCEL implementation in diverse LMICs. Larger studies, which also examine impact, including high-quality process and costing evaluations with comparable data, are required to further inform decisions for implementation of RCEL projects at national and regional scales.

Project description:IntroductionPain management is a major health care challenge in terms of the significant prevalence of pain and the negative consequences of poor management. Consequently, there have been international calls to improve pain medicine education for medical students. This systematic review examines the literature on pain medicine education at medical schools internationally, with a particular interest in studies that make reference to: a defined pain medicine curriculum, specific pain medicine learning objectives, dedicated pain education modules, core pain topics, medical specialties that teach pain medicine, elective study opportunities, hours allocated to teaching pain medicine during the curriculum, the status of pain medicine in the curriculum (compulsory or optional), as well as teaching, learning, and assessment methods.MethodsA systematic review was undertaken of relevant studies on pain medicine education for medical students published between January 1987 and May 2018 using PubMed, Medline, Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), and Google Scholar, and Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) data bases.ResultsFourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Evaluation of pain medicine curricula has been undertaken at 383 medical schools in Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America (USA), Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), and Europe. Pain medicine was mostly incorporated into medical courses such as anaesthesia or pharmacology, rather than presented as a dedicated pain medicine module. Ninety-six percent of medical schools in the UK and USA, and nearly 80% of medical schools in Europe had no compulsory dedicated teaching in pain medicine. On average, the median number of hours of pain content in the entire curriculum was 20 in Canada (2009), 20 in Australia and New Zealand (2018), 13 in the UK (2011), 12 in Europe (2012/2013), and 11 in the USA (2009). Neurophysiology and pharmacology pain topics were given priority by medical schools in all countries. Lectures, seminars, and case-based instruction were the teaching methods most commonly employed. When it was undertaken, medical schools mostly assessed student competency in pain medicine using written examinations rather than clinical assessments.ConclusionsThis systematic review has revealed that pain medicine education at medical schools internationally does not adequately respond to societal needs in terms of the prevalence and public health impact of inadequately managed pain.

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Are Content-Specific Curricula Differentially Effective in Head Start or State Prekindergarten Classrooms?

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Are Content-Specific Curricula Differentially Effective in Head Start or State Prekindergarten Classrooms?

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