Catherine Scott-Little December 4, 2007

1. Examining the Content of Infant-Toddler Early Learning Guidelines: What Has Been Addressed and What Hasn’t? Catherine Scott-Little December 4, 2007

2. Thank you to • A. L. Mailman Family Foundation • Reviewers • Barbara Bowman, Erikson Institute • Peter Mangione, WestEd • Sandra Petersen, Zero to Three • Martha Zaslow, ChildTrends

3. I. Context

4. States with Infant-Toddler ELGs (as of July 07) Alaska Maryland Arkansas Michigan Delaware Minnesota Florida Nebraska Georgia New Hampshire Indiana Ohio Iowa Oregon Kansas Pennsylvania Kentucky Tennessee Louisiana Washington Maine

5. II. Content Analyses

6. Research Questions • How have states organized their I/T ELGs? • What content have states addressed in the I/T ELGs?

7. Basic process for content analyses • Read documents • Record features of the document such as the age levels addressed • Record what area of development and learning each ELG addresses • Note specific examples or unique features

8. Basic Elements of the Coding Framework • Five domains • Physical Development and Motor Skills • Social and Emotional Development • Approaches Toward Learning • Language and Communication Development • Cognitive Development and General Knowledge • 75 indicators • Four age levels • 0 to 8 months • 9 to 18 months • 19 to 24 months • 25 to 36 months

9. Calculating Data for Analyses • “Breadth” or percentage of total ELGs (across all domains) that addressed each domain • “Depth” or percentage of ELGs within each domain that addressed individual indicators within the domain

10. Results—Organization of the ELGs • Age levels used • Birth to 36 months: 8 states • Birth to 18 and 18 to 36 months: 3 states • 3 age levels: 5 states • 4 ages levels: 2 states • More than 4 age levels: 3 states

11. Domain or subareas used • 3 domains used in all but one state • Physical • Social-emotional • Language • 2 domains less common • Cognition/cognitive development • Approaches toward learning • At least one heading that would be considered an academic subject area in 5 states • Michigan used a different framework

12. Results—Content Analyses Interested in balance of ELGs across the five domains (“breadth”) and the degree to which various elements of development within the domains have been addressed (“depth”)

13. 22.2% 23.4% Physical Soc-Em Approaches Language Cognitive 25.3% 23.5% 5.6% Breadth of I/T ELGs Across all Age Levels

14. 17.6% 26.1% Physical Soc-Em Approaches 21.2% Language Cognitive 29.1% 5.2% Breadth of I/T ELGs for Birth to 18 Months

15. 19.5% 26.1% Physical Soc-Em Approaches Language 21.7% Cognitive 29.0% 3.7% Breadth of I/T ELGs for 19 to 36 Months

16. Most commonly addressed Gross motor Self-help Fine motor Least commonly addressed Physical fitness Nutrition Health Depth of ELGs—Physical

17. Most commonly addressed Emotional expression Social skills with adults Self-concept Least commonly addressed Relationships with peers Shared activities/ social play Self-control Depth—Social-Emotional

18. Most commonly addressed Interest and exploration Concentration Invention and creativity Least commonly addressed Cooperative approach to learning Willingness to try Persistence and mastery motivation Depth—Approaches Toward Learning

19. Most commonly addressed Expressive verbal communication Receptive verbal communication Participation in language/literacy activities Least commonly addressed Alphabet awareness Communicating in a second language Comprehension Depth—Language and Communication

20. Most commonly addressed Mathematics Cause and effect Memory Least commonly addressed Social conventions Metacognition Representation Depth—Cognitive Development and General Knowledge

21. Limitations and Challenges to Keep in Mind • Limitations within the coding system • Unevenness across the indicators and domains • Difficult to capture “nuances” • Other challenges • Important characteristics of development are interrelated and are foundational • Unevenness in research literature • Limited research in cultural and linguistic diversity

22. III. Implications and Recommendations

23. Coming soon . . . Inside the Content of Infant-Toddler Early Learning Guidelines: Results from Analyses, Issues to Consider, and Recommendations