Research Studies that had Positive Affects for Children

Since I have become involved with the Utah Office of Child Care I have been involved with several research studies that have had positive outcomes for children. 

1. The first study was a needs assessment for after school care. Parents, and their school age children, were asked where they would like to have care after school and during the summer. The data showed that families wanted choice, but they wanted quality in their options. The findings from this research led to the development of the Utah Afterschool Network whose job it is to support quality for the programs, which has positive affects for children.
2. The second study was an Infant Toddler needs assessment to find out who was caring for the youngest children in our state, and what they wanted in terms of support. The findings from this research study showed that the vast majority of infants and toddlers whose parents worked were being cared for by a family member or a close family friend-and those caregivers wanted some guidance. These findings led to the creation of our Utah Early Learning Guidelines, and we are currently working to find additional ways to support Family Friend and Neighbor (FFN) providers. FFN caregivers that use the Guidelines are better informed and that is good for the children in their care.
3. The third project was a study on quality, retention, and providers perspectives about the Utah Professional Development System. This study asked providers about provider's reasons for being in the field and participating in the Career Ladder, as well as observation component to determine if those that participated on the Career Ladder had a higher quality of care than those that did not. We learned a lot from this study, including the fact that participation in the training classes alone did not significantly increase quality. Because of this information, we have made some significant changes to our Professional Development System, have launched our Quality Recognition and Information System (QRIS), and are working on the implementation of Quality Standards Coaches for our providers. This is increasing quality and that is great for children.
4. We are in the middle of a study where the implementation of the project has a much more direct impact on the children, and we have had some issues of ethics raised by leaders in the community.  This project requires teachers in child care preschool classrooms to use a very specific curriculum and management system that has more teacher direction than some feel is developmentally appropriate. The data is showing that the children are much more prepared for school, but those that are concerned are asking if it is at the cost of missed social emotional development opportunities. We are in the first year of a three year research study, and it will be interesting for me to see what the final findings are-both academically and social/emotionally. I have seen the system in action and the children do not seem to be at risk. I believe that this will also have a positive affect for children in the long run, but it is interesting to be part of a study that, for the first time, has me wondering about the ethics of it all.