In 2009-10, two affiliates of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University are co-teaching a yearlong course at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). The course, entitled “Early Childhood Settings: Understanding, Observing, and Studying Quality” is being taught by Catherine Snow, Patricia Albjerg Graham Professor of Education, and Andrea Rolla, a Senior Research Associate at both the Center and HGSE.
This course focuses on the following topics: children’s developmental outcomes (language, mathematics, emergent literacy, health, and social/emotional development); the necessary conditions for learning (e.g., adults’ cognitive support, warmth and responsiveness, safe and engaging spaces, the necessary materials, rich and responsive language environments, access to services); the characteristics of families that lead to improved child outcomes (child and parent health, parenting beliefs and practices, socioeconomic status and educational levels); the conceptual models associating children’s learning with family characteristics and early childhood settings; and the case for the impact of early childhood programs.
Students examine different early childhood settings and how to evaluate the quality of learning settings both in and outside of the home. Each class session introduces tools for observing/coding aspects of quality in early childhood settings that promote children’s development. The course focuses in particular on the Un Buen Comienzo project in Chile, an experimental study that examines the impact of professional development on classrooms, the children in them, and their families. Students are encouraged to use data from the project to work on a research project during the year and to think about implications for research, policy, and practice.
