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Predictors of Home-Based Child Care Providers’ Participation in Professional Development Workshops and Coaching

Child & Youth Care Forum volume 42, pages 439–455 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Little is known about factors that influence home-based child care providers’ participation in professional development. Factors that predict participation in activities that are designed to promote the utilization and maintenance of skills taught are of particular interest.

Objective

Our aim was to examine factors in the home-based child care context that might influence participation in professional development, including demographic variables, working conditions, preintervention skills and training, perceptions of workshop usefulness, and interpersonal factors such as job-related stress and depressive symptoms.

Methods

In this exploratory study, we examined predictors of participation among 67 home-based child care providers in Oregon, USA, who took part in the intervention group of a randomized efficacy study on a multiphase professional development program to promote preschoolers’ positive social development.

Results

Latent class analysis of participation resulted in three distinct groups: those who participated in the initial three workshops (WS), those who participated in workshops plus maintenance activities (consultation and a booster session, WS+), and those with little to no participation (NP). The NP group was too small to include in further analysis. A multivariate logistic regression model with child care provider education, number of preschool-age children enrolled in care, child-to-caregiver ratio, and self-reported stress included as predictors significantly improved classification in the WS+ group compared to the WS group.

Conclusions

These findings offer a preliminary look at the unique factors influencing home-based child care providers’ participation in extended professional development. Relevancy of content to child care providers’ situations appears to be important.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Grant R324A090044A from the Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education. Authors wish to acknowledge Myra Classen, Jessica Lockhart, Katherine Reed, Alethea Barlowe, Candee Cole, and Corrinne Kaleese for their assistance with workshops and coaching consultation and Susan Long for her editorial expertise.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oregon Research Institute, 1776 Millrace Drive, Eugene, OR, 97403-2536, USA

    Julie C. Rusby, Laura B. Jones, Ryann Crowley, Keith Smolkowski & Chris Arthun

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  1. Julie C. Rusby
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  2. Laura B. Jones
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  3. Ryann Crowley
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  4. Keith Smolkowski
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Correspondence to Julie C. Rusby.

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Rusby, J.C., Jones, L.B., Crowley, R. et al. Predictors of Home-Based Child Care Providers’ Participation in Professional Development Workshops and Coaching. Child Youth Care Forum 42, 439–455 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-013-9209-y

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Keywords

  • Home-based child care
  • Professional development
  • Predictors of participation
  • Early childhood
  • Social development