Integrating Validity Evidence to Revise a Child Abuse Knowledge Test for Early Childhood Education Providers: A Mixed Methods Approach.

Knowledge tests used to evaluate child protection training program effectiveness for early childhood education providers may suffer from threats to construct validity given the contextual variability inherent within state-specific regulations around mandated reporting requirements. Unfortunately, guidance on instrument revision that accounts for such state-specific mandated reporting requirements is lacking across research on evaluation practices. This study, therefore, explored how collection and integration of validity evidence using a mixed methods framework can guide the instrument revision process to arrive at a more valid program outcome measure.

AN INTERACTIVE ONLINE LEARNING PROGRAM ON CHILD ABUSE AND ITS REPORTING.

This article describes the content and pedagogical foundations of iLookOut for Child Abuse, an interactive, online learning program that was designed for early childhood professionals and others who provide childcare to young children. It also describes how an online intervention can address a complex social and behavioral issue--viz., how to identify and appropriately respond to concerns of possible child abuse.

COGNITIVE MAPPING FOR ILOOKOUT FOR CHILD ABUSE: AN ONLINE TRAINING PROGRAM FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD PROFESSIONALS.

This article delineates the theory and framework for an innovative child abuse training program for mandated reporters called 'iLookOut'. iLookOut is an online learning delivery system that utilizes mastery learning and self-determination theory in the Core Training program, along with spaced retrieval and retrieval practice in a follow-up micro-learning program that reinforces learning from the Core Training. A cognitive mapping model provides the structure for documenting and organizing the learning content in both the Core training and the follow-up micro-learning program. The article provides a conceptual framework for designing and implementing effective and efficient online learning programs.

Generalizing findings from a randomized controlled trial to a real-world study of the iLookOut, an online education program to improve early childhood care and education providers' knowledge and attitudes about reporting child maltreatment.

In recent years, real-world studies (RWS) are gaining increasing interests, because they can generate more realistic and generalizable results than randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT). In 2017, we published a RCT in 741 early childhood care and education providers (CCPs). It is the Phase I of our iLookOut for Child Abuse project (iLookOut), an online, interactive learning module about reporting suspected child maltreatment. That study demonstrated that in a RCT setting, the iLookOut is efficient at improving CCPs' knowledge of and attitudes towards child maltreatment reporting. However, the generalizability of that RCT's results in a RWS setting remains unknown. To address this question, we design and conduct this large RWS in 11,065 CCPs, which is the Phase II of the iLookOut. We hypothesize replication of the earlier RCT findings, i.e., the iLookOut can improve CCPs' knowledge of and attitudes toward child maltreatment reporting in a real world setting. In addition, this RWS also explores whether demographic factors affect CCPs' performance. Results of this RWS confirmed the generalizability of the previous RCT's results in a real world setting. It yielded similar effect sizes for knowledge and attitudes as were found in the earlier RCT. Cohen's d for knowledge improvement was 0.95 in that RCT, 0.96 in this RWS; Cohen's d for attitude improvement was 0.98 in that RCT, 0.80 in this RWS. Also, we found several significant differences in knowledge and attitude improvement with regard to age, race, education, and employment status. In conclusion, iLookOut improves knowledge and attitudes of CCPs about child maltreatment prevention and reporting in a real-world setting. The generalizability of the initial RCT findings to this RWS provides strong evidence that the iLookout will be effective in other real world settings. It can be a useful model for other interventions aimed at preventing child maltreatment. Clinical trial registration for the original RCT: NCT02225301 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier).

Child Care Health Consultation Improves Infant and Toddler Care.

INTRODUCTION: Many families enroll their infants and toddlers in early education and child care programs. The Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics recruited 32 child care centers that care for infants and toddlers to be linked with a child care health consultant (CCHC). METHOD: Project staff assigned the centers alternately to an immediate intervention or a 1-year delayed intervention (contrast) group. At entry into the project, and then 1 and 2 years later, an evaluator assessed center compliance with 13 standards for infants and toddler care selected from Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards (3rd ed.). Project staff linked the Immediate Intervention centers with a CCHC in Year 1. In Year 2, in a crossover comparison, project staff linked Contrast centers with a CCHC. RESULTS: Working with a CCHC effectively improved compliance with some selected health and safety standards.