ENHANCING THE QUALITY OF EARLY-CHILDHOOD EDUCATION - A FOLLOW-UP EVALUATION OF AN EXPERIENTIAL, COLLABORATIVE TRAINING MODEL FOR HEAD-START

The study is a follow-up evaluation of a Collaborative Training curric ulum for Head Start. The previous curriculum was enhanced by adding pa rent exemplars and demonstrations in trainees' classrooms. Two Head St art teachers and two parent volunteers from each of 70 classrooms were randomly assigned to either the enhanced Collaborative Training (CT) or Workshop Training (WT) approach. CT teachers and parents were invol ved conjointly in experiential training that included receiving guided practice and feedback from exemplary peers. WT consisted of a series of workshops conducted by outside trainers for separate groups of pare nts and teachers. Training methods were compared with respect to (a) t rainees' reports of satisfaction with training and collaboration, and (b) observed levels of adult-adult and adult-child classroom interacti ons. CT teachers and parents reported significantly greater levels of satisfaction with the training, as well as significantly greater level s of collaboration than WT participants. Teacher-teacher and parent-te acher observations indicate that CT trainees showed higher levels of p ositive classroom interactions than WT trainees. With respect to adult -child classroom interactions, CT teachers demonstrated significantly more praise, supportive physical contact, and positive interactions in instruction than WT teachers. CT parents showed higher levels of adul t-child classroom interactions across all observed categories compared to their WT counterparts. Implications of these findings for further research were discussed.