Virtual Quality Improvement in Early Childhood: Virtual Observations, Goal Setting, and Text Messaging to Promote Adoption of Evidence-based Practices

Millions of young children attend childcare settings in the United States and the quality of these early childhood settings, such as the activities children engage in and how teachers interact with children, matter for children’s development. This study was designed to test the impacts of a tech-enabled observation and feedback system focused on quality practices in early childcare. A randomized trial of 46 childcare professionals using items from a new observational quality tool outlining specific EBP, Brief Early Childhood Quality Inventory (BEQI), in Nebraska, was conducted. Treatment and control groups were observed virtually for 90 min by trained observers and received results from their observations on a set of evidence-based practices (EBP), such as engaging children in conversations about feelings and reading books. Treatment group participants then engaged in goal setting for EBP and received text-based messages for 12 weeks, while control group members only received observation results. Results indicated that treatment group members were significantly more likely to increase EBP that were targeted for change over the course of 12 weeks, with 62% showing improvement on two or more target EBP, whereas only 21% of the control group showed improvement on two or more target EBP. 70% of treatment group members agreed that the program was beneficial for the children in their care, and 73% would recommend the program to another childcare professional. Providing feedback to educators based on a simple observational tool can help promote adoption of EBP in childcare settings, with positive effects of an intervention focused on goal setting and support for specific practices through text messaging.