Table 5 Summary of constructs measured
Level | Domain | Methods | Timeline | Variable details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Child | Demographics | Parent Questionnaire | April 2010–2014 each year | Place of birth, age, gender, ethnicity, cultural identity, birth order. |
Health | Parent Questionnaire | April 2010–2014 each year | Weight at birth, weeks of pregnancy, birth situation, multiple birth, breastfed, food and nutrition, health condition, history of disability and mental status. | |
Education/Care | Parent Questionnaire | April 2010–2014 each year | ECEC program starting age, program type/s, duration, reasons, cost, history of education/care, Social Learning Environment (SLE) Questionnaire, Short Temperament Scale for Children (STSC), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). | |
Family | Demographics | Parent Questionnaire | April 2010–2014 each year | Marital status, relationship, family composition, age, employment status, Household Demographic Questionnaire, income, occupation, education, ethnicity, mobility (Contact Details Questionnaire). |
Health | Parent Questionnaire | April 2010–2014 each year | Caregiver Health Questionnaire, Family Functioning Questionnaire, Family Well-Being Questionnaire, Family mental health (K10). | |
Education/Care | Parent Questionnaire | April 2010–2014 each year | Parenting, home language, Home Learning Environment (HLE) Questionnaire, engagement with ECEC program and community. | |
Social | Parent Questionnaire | April 2010–2014 each year | Social Support Questionnaire. | |
Program (Centre/room-level) | Scope | Director Questionnaire | May 2010 | Screener (director’s name & contact person’s name, address, email address, number of “target age” rooms/groups). |
Centre characteristics (name, primary service, hours of operation, opening/closing times, physical setting, legal status (for-profit/for-non-profit/government). | ||||
Enrolment (total number of children in age category, licensed capacity, a waiting list, children with special needs, additional support for children with special needs). | ||||
Program & Facilities (centre philosophy, services from outside sources, services for parents, centre space (indoor & outdoor)). | ||||
Staff Resources (number of grouping, group age category, staff employment status, staff qualification, role of the staff/teacher in group, professional development, centre fees, staff wages, standard wages at the centre, percentage of salary budget). | ||||
Target ages room (number of enrolled by gender, number of staff, staff gender, staff age range, role of each staff, staff employment status, staff contact hours with children, qualifications, number of practicum students, number of volunteer, daily schedule, children with special needs, cultural background, children with non-English speaking background, language support, programming time). | ||||
Quality indicator 1 | Director Questionnaire | May 2010 | Staff qualification, staff composition, staff diversity, role of staff, staff professional development, contact staff turnover, staff-child ratios, group size, parent program. | |
Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Revised (ECERS-R) | July - September 2010 | |||
Classroom observation. | ||||
Three subscales – Space and furnishings, Personal care routines, Activities. | ||||
Quality indicator 2 | Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) | July - September 2010 (1 WAVE) | Classroom observation (20 min x 4/6). | |
Three domains – Emotional Support (positive climate, negative climate, teacher sensitivity, regard for student perspectives), Classroom Organization (behaviour management, productivity, instructional learning support), and Instructional Support (concept development, quality of feedback, language modelling). | ||||
2011 (2 WAVES) | ||||
2012 (1 WAVE) | ||||
2013 (1 WAVE applied to a sub-sample of 100 scoop classrooms in Queensland) | ||||
Economics | Director Questionnaire | May 2010 | Program costs ([1] total program costs including labour, infrastructure, staff etc. and [2] costs per child). | |
Data Linkage with DEEWR & FaHCSIA | Program financing ([1] private contribution including fees, volunteers, donations etc. [2] public contribution including direct fee subsidy (e.g. demand side fee subsidies: CCB, CCTR) and indirect fee subsidy (including grants, exemptions etc.). | |||
Program (Staff-level) | Scope | Staff Questionnaire | June 2010 | Staff demography (name, gender, age range, cultural background, education, employment status, student status, number of years’ experience, prior experience). |
About the room (number of enrolment by gender, number of staff, staff gender, staff age range, role of each staff, staff employment status, staff contact hours with children, qualification, number of practicum student, number of volunteer, daily schedule, children with special needs, cultural background, children with non-English speaking background, language support, programming time). | ||||
Curriculum (philosophical approach, links to EYLF/VEYLDF (VIC), emphasis on academic program, pedagogical methods (whole-group vs small group), learning strategy (teacher-led vs child-initiated), assessment, outside source of program, goals of curriculum, program evaluation). | ||||
Professional Development (availability of professional development, duration, content, support from the centre) | ||||
Staff work review, Reason’s for working in ECEC, Staff attitude and beliefs. | ||||
Children | Physical | Anthropometry | April to June 2010 | Height, Weight, Waist circumference. |
Cognitive | Woodcock Johnson (WJ-III) | April to June 2010 | Cognitive: Test 1 Verbal Ability. | |
Cognitive: Test 5: Concept Formation. | ||||
Cognitive: Test 6: Visual Matching. | ||||
Achievement | WJ-III | April to June | Achievement: Test 4: Understanding Directions. | |
2010 | Achievement: Test 10: Applied Problems | |||
2011 | Cognitive: Test 18: Rapid Picture Naming | |||
2012 | Achievement: Test 21: Sound awareness. | |||
Social Inclusion | Bus Story | April to June 2010 | Children work with researchers to select the adventure and build a story. Stickers “☺” are used by the children to nominate 3 friends to take on the bus with them. Each child completes their bus individually and is interviewed by a researcher about the reasons for their nomination. | |
Adult-Child Interaction | Thorpe Interaction Measure (TIM) | April to June 2010 | The stimulus is a novel picture book with photographs representing children engaged in a number of activities. Each book has 10 stimulus photos. |