UK focuses on education of early child care professionals

The Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute (IHDI) at the University of Kentucky recently was awarded a three-year, $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Administration for Children and Families to research the impact of a statewide, unified professional development system on the educational level of early care and education providers, subsequent classroom quality, and children’s outcomes.

The research will build on the statewide evaluation of the Commonwealth’s KIDS NOW Initiative, passed by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2000.

IHDI, the UK College of Education’s Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling, and the University of Louisville, in collaboration with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the Kentucky Division of Child Care, and the Kentucky Department of Education’s Division of Early Childhood Development, will work together in this endeavor.

“Research has shown that the educational level of early care and education professionals is an essential factor in the quality of services that young children receive,” said Beth Rous, director of Community Education and Early Childhood at IHDI and principal investigator of the study. “We are excited about the opportunity to conduct this research in an effort to impact overall child outcomes through their provider’s professional development and training.”

The research plan will include a multi-site, mixed methods design with 79 centers and 330 classrooms and teachers that represent three types of classroom settings: child care, Head Start and state preschool.

For more information about the initiative, contact Beth Rous at 257-9115. For more information about the Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute, call 257-1714 or visit www.ihdi.uky.edu.

Ralph Derickson