ABSTRACT

Research Findings: In this study, we tested whether it is possible to reliably evaluate the quality of interactions between early childhood educators and children using a thin-slice coding approach. Ninety-seven early childhood educators were videotaped for two five-minute intervals: one mealtime observation and one standardized activity. Videos were scored using the shortened and revised 15-item Responsive Interactions for Learning – Educator (RIFL-Ed.) measure, an open-access measure that takes less than ten minutes to administer and score. The RIFL-Ed. demonstrated good psychometric properties when used for mealtime observations and scores were associated with the Emotional and Behavioural Support (b = 0.19, p = .02) – and to some extent the Engaged Support for Learning (b = 0.15, p = 0.07) – domains of the widely used Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS): Toddler Version. Less than half of the variance in scores was shared across educators in the same classrooms. Practice or Policy: If these preliminary results can be confirmed in larger studies, the RIFL-Ed.—an open-access measure for which fast and free online training is available– can be used to affordably scale-up targeted quality assessment and improvement efforts in early childhood education and care settings, efforts which have been shown to positively impact children’s developmental outcomes.

摘要

研究结果：在这项研究中，我们测试了是否有可能使用薄片编码方法可靠地评估幼儿教育工作者和儿童之间的互动质量。对 97 名幼儿教育工作者进行了两次每五分钟的录像：一次进餐观察和一次标准化活动。使用缩短和修订的 15 项响应式学习互动 - 教育者 (RIFL-Ed.) 措施对视频进行评分，这是一种开放获取措施，管理和评分只需不到 10 分钟。RIFL-Ed。当用于进餐时间观察时表现出良好的心理测量特性，并且分数与情绪和行为支持相关（b = 0.19，p = .02） - 在某种程度上与参与学习支持相关（b = 0.15，p = 0.07) – 广泛使用的课堂评估评分系统 (CLASS) 的领域：幼儿版。不到一半的分数差异在同一教室的教育工作者之间共享。实践或政策：如果这些初步结果可以在更大规模的研究中得到证实，那么 RIFL-Ed.（一种提供快速和免费在线培训的开放获取措施）可用于以经济实惠的方式扩大有针对性的质量评估和改进工作在幼儿教育和护理环境中，已证明对儿童发展成果产生积极影响的努力。