Integrating Intervention Approaches: Development and Initial Testing of an Early Childhood Education Intervention

Abstract

Early care and education program interventions often focus on providing training, sometimes combined with coaching, to classroom educators. However, such interventions are uneven in their effectiveness. We describe the development of the Ready Educators Quality Improvement Pilot (REQIP), an intervention that integrates two approaches—one that focuses on the workforce through training and coaching at the educator level, and another approach that focuses on the program in which the educators work, through executive coaching for administrators and consultations on the classroom, building spaces, and curriculum materials. Ten center-based programs and over 60 educators participated in a 19-month intervention and evaluation. This article discusses the challenges faced during implementation and implications for practice, results of the evaluation, and implications for other applications of social science.