Evaluation of Proficiency in the Implementation of Creative Curriculum Study

Last registered on May 13, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Evaluation of Proficiency in the Implementation of Creative Curriculum Study
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012262
Initial registration date
May 03, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
May 13, 2024, 12:00 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Primary Investigator

Name
Milagros Nores
Affiliation
NIEER
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
W. Steven Barnett
PI Affiliation
NIEER
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2021-08-01
End date
2024-12-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
Curriculum, Preschool, Early Childhood
JEL code(s)
I20, I21
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study implements a clustered Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) across two districts in a Northeastern state with a state preschool program. The research aims to assess the effectiveness of access to the full digital Creative Curriculum (CC) ecosystem and associated professional development provided by Teaching Strategies, relative to practice-as-usual in districts currently using Creative Curriculum.

In this RCT, one group of coaches and the teachers/classrooms they work with in two districts serve as the control group receiving no intervention(n=60 teachers), while the other group of coaches and the teachers/classrooms they work with form the treatment group (n=60 teachers). Randomization was completed in the Fall of 2021, before the commencement of study activities. Clustering at the coach level is designed to account for shared professional development activities within each cluster. The study includes a third arm where the outcomes are assessed in randomly selected preschools classrooms across the state (n=60 teachers).

Primary outcome measures used to evaluate the impact of the intervention include two measures of classroom quality (in the 2021-22 school year and again in the 2023-24 school year). Secondary outcomes encompass child cognitive assessments (language, literacy, and math), children's executive functions, social-emotional development (teacher report), and creativity. These assessments are planned for the fall of 2023 and the spring of 2024 to assess children’s growth over the school year. Implementation is captured through measures of cumulative hours of training, engagement with the ecosystem and fidelity of implementation.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Barnett, W. Steven and Milagros Nores. 2024. "Evaluation of Proficiency in the Implementation of Creative Curriculum Study." AEA RCT Registry. May 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12262-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Access to the full digital Creative Curriculum (CC) ecosystem and associated professional development provided by Teaching Strategies.
Intervention Start Date
2021-09-13
Intervention End Date
2024-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Classroom quality is assessed using The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale—Third Ed. (ECERS-3; Harms, Clifford & Cryer, 2014) & the Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing (SSTEW; Howard et al., 2018). Curriculum Fidelity is assessed utilizing The Fidelity Tool from The Creative Curriculum® for Preschool.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Children's cognitive and socio-emotional development.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
A first battery of child measures included socio-emotional, executive functioning, creativity and problem solving:
• Dimensional Card Sort Task (DCCS; Zelazo, 2006) assesses attention-shifting.
• Peg Tapping Test (PT; Diamond & Taylor, 1996). This test requires children to inhibit a natural tendency to mimic the experimenter while remembering the rule for the correct response.
• The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ: Goodman, 2001) is a brief behavioral questionnaire about 2-17 year-old children.
• The Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS), is a behavioral rating instrument useful for peer play behaviors for teachers (or parents) to respond (Fantuzzo & McWayne, 2002).
• Given the focus of the curriculum, we also included a measure of creativity: We use the Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement (TCAM; Zachopoulou, Makri, & Pollatou, 2009) which assesses the creativity of young children or others with limited verbal and drawing skills. This is an adaptation of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT; Torrance, 1974) for younger children.

A second battery include cognitive measures of receptive vocabulary, literacy and math.
• The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test--Fourth Edition (PPVT-IV; Dunn & Dunn, 2007) a 204-item test of receptive vocabulary in standard English.
• The Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery-Fourth Edition (WJ-IV; Schrank, Mather, & McGrew, 2014) including the Applied Problems and Letter-Word Identification subtests, ideally broad math and "reading."

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The Creative Curriculum Implementation Study (CCI Study) randomized a groups of coaches/teachers dyads in two districts to the control group receiving no intervention (n=60 teachers) or the treatment group (n=60 teachers). Randomization was completed in the Fall of 2021, before the commencement of study activities. Clustering at the coach level is designed to account for shared professional development activities within each cluster. The study includes a third arm where the primary and secondary outcomes are assessed (following the same time-line) for a group of randomly selected preschools classrooms across the state (n=60 teachers).
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
In the office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Coaches, Teachers, Students
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
180 Classrooms/Teachers, 720 children
Sample size: planned number of observations
180 Classrooms/Teachers, 720 children
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
60 Treatment,
60 Control,
60 Other classrooms within the state (non-randomized)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
IRB Approval Date
2020-01-24
IRB Approval Number
Pro2020000039
Analysis Plan