Project Details
Project Description
The Enhancing And Supporting Early development to better children’s Lives (EASEL) Approach specifically aims to enhance early childhood educators’ everyday practices in the classroom so that universal support can be delivered to all children in the classroom setting to improve social, emotional, behavioural, and executive functioning outcomes.
The EASEL Trial will evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the EASEL Approach on educator and child outcomes. This is known as a hybrid design. A cluster randomised controlled trial design will be used to compare groups (childcare sites) that implement the EASEL Approach to those that do not.
Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, halfway through the implementation (6 months) and at the conclusion of the trial (12 months) using validated tools and observational assessments. The Whole Child Panel 2.1 (WCP) will be administered at baseline to identify children with varying levels of executive functioning. In addition, the CHILD team will assess sustainability factors for implementation (i.e., what intensity/duration/frequency of training and coaching is required for effective implementation of practices by educators) and collect data on fidelity at regular timepoints.
The aims of the EASEL trial are to:
1. Test the effectiveness of the EASEL Approach, a universal classroom-based approach on enhancing educators’ classroom practices to improve SEB and EF outcomes in preschool children
2. Understand how educators implement the EASEL Approach within their classroom and the factors that affect the implementation
The implementation of the EASEL programme will be guided by the EPIS (Explore, Prepare, Implement, Sustain) Framework, an evidence-informed framework frequently used in programme implementation and evaluation, and the EASEL trial will occur over four key phases:
The EASEL Trial will evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of the EASEL Approach on educator and child outcomes. This is known as a hybrid design. A cluster randomised controlled trial design will be used to compare groups (childcare sites) that implement the EASEL Approach to those that do not.
Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, halfway through the implementation (6 months) and at the conclusion of the trial (12 months) using validated tools and observational assessments. The Whole Child Panel 2.1 (WCP) will be administered at baseline to identify children with varying levels of executive functioning. In addition, the CHILD team will assess sustainability factors for implementation (i.e., what intensity/duration/frequency of training and coaching is required for effective implementation of practices by educators) and collect data on fidelity at regular timepoints.
The aims of the EASEL trial are to:
1. Test the effectiveness of the EASEL Approach, a universal classroom-based approach on enhancing educators’ classroom practices to improve SEB and EF outcomes in preschool children
2. Understand how educators implement the EASEL Approach within their classroom and the factors that affect the implementation
The implementation of the EASEL programme will be guided by the EPIS (Explore, Prepare, Implement, Sustain) Framework, an evidence-informed framework frequently used in programme implementation and evaluation, and the EASEL trial will occur over four key phases:
| Short title | EASEL |
|---|---|
| Status | Finished |
| Effective start/end date | 22/03/23 → 22/07/24 |
Funding
- Centre for Evidence and Implementation Ltd (CEI): A$48,448.78
Keywords
- Early Childhood Education
- Multisite Randomised Controlled Trial
- Teacher training and support