One size does not fit all: Associations between child characteristics, differential treatment of children by educators and quality in child care centers

IF 3.2 1区教育学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Early Childhood Research Quarterly Pub Date : 2025-03-28 DOI:10.1016/j.ecresq.2025.03.002

Michal Perlman, Gabriella Nocita, Nina Sokolovic, Olesya Falenchuk, Jennifer M. Jenkins

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

High-quality interactions in early childhood education settings support children's cognitive and socioemotional development. However, little is known about what explains variability in how educators interact with different children in these settings and how this variability relates to quality metrics. This study was based on data from 470 primarily low-income, preschool-aged children (mean age = 46.6 months; 53% female) attending licensed child care settings in a multicultural metropolis. Multilevel analyses revealed that approximately 80% of both observed educator behaviors and educator reports of relationship quality varied between children in the same classrooms, and that children's disruptive behavior, verbal intelligence, and hostility accounted for anywhere between 3 and 53% of this variance. Educators directed more positivity towards children who they described as more hostile and reported having closer and less conflictual relationships with children who they described as being less hostile and having greater verbal intelligence (small to moderate effect sizes). Differential treatment was associated with child-educator ratios, staff education, and emotional climate. Results can inform research, practice, and policy related to equity, professional development, and quality measurement in early childhood education.

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一个标准不能适用于所有：儿童特征、教育工作者对儿童的差别待遇和儿童保育中心的质量之间的联系

幼儿教育环境中的高质量互动支持儿童的认知和社会情感发展。然而，在这些环境中，是什么解释了教育者如何与不同的孩子互动的可变性，以及这种可变性与质量指标的关系，人们知之甚少。这项研究基于470名低收入学龄前儿童(平均年龄46.6个月；（53%为女性）在多元文化大都市的有执照的托儿机构就读。多水平分析显示，在观察到的教育者的行为和教育者对关系质量的报告中，大约80%在同一教室的儿童之间存在差异，而儿童的破坏性行为、言语智力和敌意占这种差异的3%至53%。教育工作者更积极地对待那些被他们描述为更具敌意的孩子，并报告与那些被他们描述为不那么敌对、语言智力更高的孩子有着更密切、更少冲突的关系（小到中等效应大小）。差别待遇与儿童-教育者比例、员工教育程度和情绪气氛有关。结果可以为与幼儿教育公平、专业发展和质量衡量相关的研究、实践和政策提供信息。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Early Childhood Research Quarterly Multiple-

CiteScore

7.00

自引率

8.10%

发文量

109

期刊介绍： For over twenty years, Early Childhood Research Quarterly (ECRQ) has influenced the field of early childhood education and development through the publication of empirical research that meets the highest standards of scholarly and practical significance. ECRQ publishes predominantly empirical research (quantitative or qualitative methods) on issues of interest to early childhood development, theory, and educational practice (Birth through 8 years of age). The journal also occasionally publishes practitioner and/or policy perspectives, book reviews, and significant reviews of research. As an applied journal, we are interested in work that has social, policy, and educational relevance and implications and work that strengthens links between research and practice.