The Impact of Supporting Teacher Excellence in the Early Childhood Classroom

Last registered on April 13, 2023

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

The Impact of Supporting Teacher Excellence in the Early Childhood Classroom

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0008271

Initial registration date

October 06, 2021

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

October 07, 2021, 6:25 PM EDT

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

Last updated

April 13, 2023, 8:48 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Sarah Kroeger

Affiliation

University of Notre Dame

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Chloe Gibbs

PI Affiliation

Co-Primary Investigator

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

Withdrawn

Start date

2021-10-01

End date

2023-10-01

Keywords

Education

Additional Keywords

Early Childhood, Teacher Quality

JEL code(s)

I20 General, I32 Measurement and Analysis of Poverty, I21 Analysis of Education

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Early childhood education is a vital tool in preparing children to become successful lifelong learners. However, early childhood teachers are often poorly compensated, ill-prepared to teach children in this important age group, and prone to turnover and exit from the profession. Porter-Leath’s Teacher Excellence Program (TEP) aims to strengthen the early childhood teachers’ effectiveness by improving their pedagogical knowledge and developing strong classroom practices. The TEP model is based on a variety of training, workshops, and coaching, in addition to regular individualized assessment and one-on-one mentoring by education specialists. This program is being evaluated via randomized controlled trial (RCT). Approximately 250 teachers, with about 20 students per teacher/classroom, will be randomized between treatment and control, across two years. Researchers will assess the impact of TEP on cognitive and non-cognitive skill development during the pre-K year, and kindergarten readiness in the year following the intervention. The study will also compare teacher satisfaction and turnover in the treatment and control groups.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Gibbs, Chloe and Sarah Kroeger. 2023. "The Impact of Supporting Teacher Excellence in the Early Childhood Classroom." AEA RCT Registry. April 13. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8271-1.1

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Teachers in the classrooms assigned to the TEP treatment group will receive intensive teacher coaching and ongoing supports from the Porter-Leath instructional coaches. Treatment teachers will attend workshops and receive one-on-one mentoring and observation while receiving in-classroom support to aid in the implementation of learned practices. Relief teachers, who are dependable and trained educators, cover the classrooms of teachers who are attending training sessions, ensuring seamless operation in the classroom that serves the best interest of the students. The classrooms that are assigned to the control group will receive mandated support and observations from the TEP team (i.e., “business as usual”), but no further intensive coaching or training.

Intervention Start Date

2021-10-18

Intervention End Date

2023-06-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

School readiness
Primary measure: kindergarten entry developmental assessments, including literacy, numeracy, motor skills, and social emotional development assessed at the outset of kindergarten school year
Hypothesis: Students who are in classrooms with teachers who receive TEP services will have higher assessment scores, on average, than students who are in classrooms with teachers who do not receive these services.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

1. Pre-kindergarten cognitive and non-cognitive skill development
Primary measure: pre-kindergarten assessments of literacy, numeracy, motor skills and social-emotional development assessed throughout pre-k year
Hypothesis: Students who are in classrooms with teachers who receive TEP services will have higher assessment scores, on average, than students who are in classrooms with teachers who do not receive these services

2. Teacher satisfaction
Primary measure: Teacher employment records assessed year after receiving treatment
Hypothesis: Teachers who receive services from TEP will have lower rates of turnover, on average, than teachers who do not receive TEP services

Secondary measure: teacher job satisfaction survey assessed during pre-k year
Hypothesis: Teachers who receive services from TEP will have higher rates of job satisfaction, on average, than teachers who do not receive TEP services

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Teachers (and classrooms) will be randomly assigned to either treatment or control groups. TEP will be administered to the treatment group for 1 year.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Stratified randomization accounting for early childhood program site type and teachers’ prior experience with Teacher Excellence Program

Randomization Unit

classroom

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

250 classrooms

Sample size: planned number of observations

5000 students

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

2500 students in treatment, 2500 students in control

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Enrollment will take place over two years. In the first year, the sample will include 60 Porter-Leath classrooms across five sites; 21 First 8 Memphis classrooms across 12 sites; and 45 NEXT Memphis Classrooms across 20 sites. Porter-Leath and NEXT Memphis classrooms will have approximately 20 children per classroom while First 8 Memphis classrooms will have 14 students. In year two, we anticipate 20% of classrooms experiencing teacher turnover. In the second year, new teachers will be randomized along with any teachers who were initially in the control group. These assumptions lead to an expected total sample of 250 teachers. Assuming an intra-cluster correlation value ranging from 0.10 - 0.20 and an R^2 on the covariates of 0.5, this sample will allow us to detect a 0.11 - 0.14 standard deviation effect on outcomes.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB