Beth Rous | University of Kentucky (original) (raw)
Papers by Beth Rous
This report was made possible through the efforts of many people. At ACF, Ann Rivera (OPRE), Nina... more This report was made possible through the efforts of many people. At ACF, Ann Rivera (OPRE), Nina Philipsen (OPRE), Paula Daneri (OPRE), and Stacy Cassell (OCC) provided support and guidance throughout the project as our project's Steering Committee. We would also like to thank staff from the Office of Child Care and the National Centers' TA managers and providers who consulted with us and provided feedback on the evaluation work and findings throughout the process, including reviewing the case study write-ups included in the appendix of this report. In addition, we would like to thank the lead agency staff and their state collaborators for sharing their experiences with us. Glossary of Terms Administration for Children and Families-The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and promotes the economic and social well-being of children, families, individuals and communities with leadership and resources for compassionate, effective delivery of human services. Center staff-Includes peer learning facilitators and organizers/planners (often the same person/s) from the National Centers. Child Care and Development Fund-The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is a federal and state partnership program authorized under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBG) that provides state, territory, and tribal governments with funds to support children and their families with paying for child care that will fit their needs and that will prepare children to succeed in school. Child Care and Development Block Grant Act-The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBG) provides federal funding to states, territories, and tribes for child care subsidies for lowincome working families with children under age 13. It also funds quality improvement, consumer education and engagement, and health and safety initiatives. Community of Learners-Group of individuals who collectively learn about a new topic; term used by the National Center for Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning (NCECDTL) staff to refer to their peer learning opportunity. Community of Practice-Groups of individuals who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly; term used by National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance /State Capacity Building Center staff to refer to their peer learning opportunity. Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance System-The Early Childhood Training & Technical Assistance System (EC T/TA System) serves Head Start grantees and delegates and CCDF grantees, including states, territories, and tribes. The system brings together resources from the Office of Child Care, the Office of Head Start (OHS), and their federal health partners to offer CCDF Administrators and their stakeholders' information, tools, training, and other supports across the national network of T/TA providers. Element-Characteristic describing a peer learning process, such as purpose, learning approach, and tools & strategies (among others); variations in key elements indicate different peer learning opportunity types or peer learning approaches. Facilitators-National Center staff or contractors who facilitate the peer learning opportunity. Grantee-States, territories, or tribes receiving funds through the CCDBG. MyPeers-A virtual learning network used by the Office of Head Start which allows early childhood professionals across states, territories, and tribes to share and exchange ideas and resources. National Centers-The Early Childhood National Centers for Training and Technical Assistance promote excellence through high-quality, practical resources and approaches. They are designed to build early childhood and school-age program capacity and promote consistent practices across communities, states, territories, and tribes. These National Centers bring together the knowledge and skills from the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care, and their health partners across HHS. Office of Child Care-The Office of Child Care (OCC) supports low-income working families by improving access to affordable, high-quality early care and afterschool programs. It administers the CCDF. Peer-Used to refer to individuals at two different levels: across lead agencies or (state teams) and within state teams. At the primary level, a peer is a person or a team that represents a state, or territory (peers across state teams). At the secondary level, there are peers within state teams. Peer Learning Group/Community-Groups of individuals exchanging knowledge and experience with each other, and potentially diffusing this learning back to their organizations to ensure an impact-at scale-on reform initiatives; terms used by the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (NCECQA) and the National Center for Afterschool and Summer Enrichment (NCASE) staff (respectively) to refer to their peer learning opportunities. Peer Learning Opportunity-Specific technical assistance opportunity offered to CCDF grantees. Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)-A systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early and school-age care and education programs. Regional Offices-The ACF Office of Regional Operations has ten regional offices that serve states, territories, tribes, and other grantees in their geographical area. State contractors-Non-state employees. State representatives-Both state employees and state contractors. Theory of change-A projected path to short-term, intermediate, and long-term learning outcomes by outlining causal linkages in the TA process.
Journal of Education Human Resources
The success of preschool programs is largely dependent upon a high-quality teaching workforce. Pr... more The success of preschool programs is largely dependent upon a high-quality teaching workforce. Preschool educators are critical in supporting a child’s socio-emotional development, motivation, school readiness, achievement, and overall learning. While expected to be professionally prepared similarly to their colleagues from elementary and secondary education, public preschool teachers face substantial underpayment and a higher workload. This study, which was part of a larger study focused on the Kentucky early childhood workforce, presents findings on compensation inequity for teachers and teaching assistants working with children aged three to five years in public preschool programs. The average public preschool teacher reported having a college degree with 11 years of experience in their current position and 12 years of experience in public preschool. The average teaching assistant reported having some college credits or a Child Development Associate degree with six years of exper...
This handbook synthesizes both contemporary research and best practices in early childhood teache... more This handbook synthesizes both contemporary research and best practices in early childhood teacher education, a unique segment of teacher education defined by its focus on child development, the role of the family, and support for all learners. The first volume of its kind, the Handbook of Early Childhood Teacher Education provides comprehensive coverage on key topics in the field, including the history of early childhood teacher education programs, models for preparing early childhood educators, pedagogical approaches to supporting diverse learners, and contemporary influences on this quickly expanding area of study.
SLaTE 2019: 8th ISCA Workshop on Speech and Language Technology in Education, 2019
Assessing child growth in terms of speech and language is a crucial indicator of long term learni... more Assessing child growth in terms of speech and language is a crucial indicator of long term learning ability and lifelong progress. Since the preschool classroom provides a potent opportunity for monitoring growth in young children's interactions, analyzing such data has come into prominence for early childhood researchers. The foremost task of any analysis of such naturalistic recordings would involve parsing and tagging the interactions between adults and young children. An automated tagging system will provide child interaction metrics and would be important for any further processing. This study investigates the language environment of 3-5 year old children using a CRSS based diarization strategy employing an i-vector-based baseline that captures adult-to-child or childto-child rapid conversational turns in a naturalistic noisy early childhood setting. We provide analysis of various loss functions and learning algorithms using Deep Neural Networks to separate child speech from adult speech. Performance is measured in terms of diarization error rate, Jaccard error rate and shows good results for tagging adult vs children's speech. Distinction between primary and secondary child would be useful for monitoring a given child and analysis is provided for the same. Our diarization system provides insights into the direction for preprocessing and analyzing challenging naturalistic daylong child speech recordings.
International Journal of Speech Technology, 2019
Understanding and assessing child verbal communication patterns is critical in facilitating effec... more Understanding and assessing child verbal communication patterns is critical in facilitating effective language development. Typically speaker diarization is performed to explore children's verbal engagement. Understanding which activity areas stimulate verbal communication can help promote more efficient language development. In this study, we present a twostage children vocal engagement prediction system that consists of (1) a near to real-time, noise robust system that measures the duration of child-to-adult and child-to-child conversations, and tracks the number of conversational turn-takings, (2) a novel child location tracking strategy, that determines in which activity areas a child spends most/least of their time. A proposed child-adult turn-taking solution relies exclusively on vocal cues observed during the interaction between a child and other children, and/or classroom teachers. By employing a threshold optimized speech activity detection using a linear combination of voicing measures, it is possible to achieve effective speech/non-speech segment detection prior to conversion assessment. This TO-COMBO-SAD reduces classification error rates for adult-child audio by 21.34% and 27.3% compared to a baseline i-Vector and standard Bayesian Information Criterion diarization systems, respectively. In addition, this study presents a unique location tracking system adult-child that helps determine the quantity of child-adult communication in specific activity areas, and which activities stimulate voice communication engagement in a child-adult education space. We observe that our proposed location tracking solution offers unique opportunities to assess speech and language interaction for children, and quantify the location context which would contribute to improve verbal communication.
OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 2019
Community participation is vital to children’s development and provides opportunities to practice... more Community participation is vital to children’s development and provides opportunities to practice social communication skills. Although previous studies suggest that young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience decreased community participation, there is little empirical evidence on the precise patterns of participation that may influence social communication opportunities. Therefore, this pilot study investigated the communication among families of children with ASD ( n = 5) versus typical development (TD; n = 5) across various community locations. We used automated, objective measures: the Language ENvironmental Analysis (LENA) system™ to measure the amount of communication and integrated this with a Global Positioning System (GPS; that is, Qstarz™) to measure community location. Results showed that families of children with ASD and TD spent a similar amount of time in community locations; however, there were differences in the amount of adult talk directed towar...
The national emphasis on teacher effectiveness, high stakes accountability, and standards-based e... more The national emphasis on teacher effectiveness, high stakes accountability, and standards-based education has led to growing attention to the quality of teacher education. A recent report from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education calls for transforming teacher education programs through clinical teaching by preparing teachers to implement evidence-based instructional practices in the context of real classrooms (NCATE 2010).
Division For Early Childhood Council For Exceptional Children, 2007
/SDE). The DEC document includes three sections: "Curriculum"; "Assessment"; and "Program Evaluat... more /SDE). The DEC document includes three sections: "Curriculum"; "Assessment"; and "Program Evaluation." The intended audiences for the document include early childhood administrators and personnel who work with young children with disabilities. Teacher educators, those providing professional development, family members, and state and federal policy makers will also benefit from these materials. Background, History, and Context The NAEYC-NAECS/SDE position statement. As described in the NAEYC and NAECS/SDE document (2003), a number of converging factors led to the development of the two organizations' joint position statement. NAEYC and NAECS/SDE had previously published a joint position statement on early childhood curriculum and assessment (1990). Since then: Much more has become known about the power of highquality curriculum, effective assessment practices, and ongoing program evaluation to support better outcomes for young children. Yet the infrastructure of the early childhood education system, within and outside the public schools, has not allowed this knowledge to be fully used-resulting in curriculum, assessment systems, and program evaluation procedures that are not of consistently high quality. (NAEYC & NAECS/SDE, 2003, p. 5) THE DIVISION FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD of the Council for Exceptional Children 1
Dimensions of Early Childhood, 2007
Kindergarten Transition and Readiness
National Professional Development Center on Inclusion, 2008
Project Forum, Apr 1, 2009
Zero to Three, Mar 1, 2012
Final Report: The Impact of the Kentucky Professional Development Framework on Child Care, Head Start, and Public Preschool Classroom Quality and Child Outcomes, 2008
The University of Kentucky (UK) Human Development Institute (HDI) in collaboration with the UK De... more The University of Kentucky (UK) Human Development Institute (HDI) in collaboration with the UK Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling; University of Louisville; Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Division of Child Care; and Kentucky Department of Education, Division of Early Childhood Development, built on the current statewide evaluation of the state KIDS NOW Initiative by conducting research investigating the degree to which a statewide unified professional development framework impacted the educational level of early care and education providers and subsequent classroom quality. Moreover, the influence of these factors was examined to determine their impact on child outcomes. The research design included a multi-site, mixed-methods design with 228 centers and 312 classrooms and teachers that represented three types of classroom settings (child care, Head Start, and public preschool). Child outcome data were collected on 353 children across these settings.
Suggested Citation: Rous, B., Grove, J., Cox, M., Townley, K., & Crumpton, G. (2008). The impact of the Kentucky professional development framework on child care, head start and public preschool classroom quality and child outcomes. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky, Human Development Institute.
International Journal of Speech Technology (IJST), 2019
Hansen, J., Najafian, M., Lileikyte, R., Irvin, D., & Rous, B. (2019). Speech and language proces... more Hansen, J., Najafian, M., Lileikyte, R., Irvin, D., & Rous, B. (2019). Speech and language processing for assessing child-adult interaction based on diarization and location. International Journal of Speech Technology (IJST). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10772-019-09590-0
DEC Recommended Practices Monograph #8, 2020
Broadbent, C., Washburn, I., Rous, B., & McCormick, K. (2020). Understanding how transition affec... more Broadbent, C., Washburn, I., Rous, B., & McCormick, K. (2020). Understanding how transition affects resources of families that have a child with a disability using latent transition analysis. In B.S. Rous, T.W. McLaughlin, & S.R. Sandall, (Eds.), Transition: Supporting Changes in Services and Settings (DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 8, pp. 37-47). Washington, DC: Division for Early Childhood.
DEC Recommended Practices Monograph #8, 2020
Rous, B., Gooden, C., Hallam, R., & **Chapman, K. (2020). Using a transition plan to promote indi... more Rous, B., Gooden, C., Hallam, R., & **Chapman, K. (2020). Using a transition plan to promote individualized transition services. In B.S. Rous, T.W. McLaughlin, & S.R. Sandall, (Eds.), Transition: Supporting Changes in Services and Settings (DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 8, pp. 95-106). Washington, DC: Division for Early Childhood.
The Handbook of Applied Communication Research, 2020
When we were first approached about writing a chapter in a book about communication, we must say ... more When we were first approached about writing a chapter in a book about communication, we must say we were a little stymied. We felt we knew little about communication theory (after all, we are educational researchers). We most certainly knew we could write a chapter on design thinking, as we have been applying human-centered design in the education space across a number of settings, from early childhood to higher education. We also know a lot about training and teaching, so we are communicators. As we set out to craft this chapter, we found ourselves embarking on a grand adventure of exploring our tradecraft, design thinking, through the lens of creative communication. It is that journey we will share in this chapter.
This report was made possible through the efforts of many people. At ACF, Ann Rivera (OPRE), Nina... more This report was made possible through the efforts of many people. At ACF, Ann Rivera (OPRE), Nina Philipsen (OPRE), Paula Daneri (OPRE), and Stacy Cassell (OCC) provided support and guidance throughout the project as our project's Steering Committee. We would also like to thank staff from the Office of Child Care and the National Centers' TA managers and providers who consulted with us and provided feedback on the evaluation work and findings throughout the process, including reviewing the case study write-ups included in the appendix of this report. In addition, we would like to thank the lead agency staff and their state collaborators for sharing their experiences with us. Glossary of Terms Administration for Children and Families-The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and promotes the economic and social well-being of children, families, individuals and communities with leadership and resources for compassionate, effective delivery of human services. Center staff-Includes peer learning facilitators and organizers/planners (often the same person/s) from the National Centers. Child Care and Development Fund-The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) is a federal and state partnership program authorized under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBG) that provides state, territory, and tribal governments with funds to support children and their families with paying for child care that will fit their needs and that will prepare children to succeed in school. Child Care and Development Block Grant Act-The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBG) provides federal funding to states, territories, and tribes for child care subsidies for lowincome working families with children under age 13. It also funds quality improvement, consumer education and engagement, and health and safety initiatives. Community of Learners-Group of individuals who collectively learn about a new topic; term used by the National Center for Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning (NCECDTL) staff to refer to their peer learning opportunity. Community of Practice-Groups of individuals who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly; term used by National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance /State Capacity Building Center staff to refer to their peer learning opportunity. Early Childhood Training and Technical Assistance System-The Early Childhood Training & Technical Assistance System (EC T/TA System) serves Head Start grantees and delegates and CCDF grantees, including states, territories, and tribes. The system brings together resources from the Office of Child Care, the Office of Head Start (OHS), and their federal health partners to offer CCDF Administrators and their stakeholders' information, tools, training, and other supports across the national network of T/TA providers. Element-Characteristic describing a peer learning process, such as purpose, learning approach, and tools & strategies (among others); variations in key elements indicate different peer learning opportunity types or peer learning approaches. Facilitators-National Center staff or contractors who facilitate the peer learning opportunity. Grantee-States, territories, or tribes receiving funds through the CCDBG. MyPeers-A virtual learning network used by the Office of Head Start which allows early childhood professionals across states, territories, and tribes to share and exchange ideas and resources. National Centers-The Early Childhood National Centers for Training and Technical Assistance promote excellence through high-quality, practical resources and approaches. They are designed to build early childhood and school-age program capacity and promote consistent practices across communities, states, territories, and tribes. These National Centers bring together the knowledge and skills from the Office of Head Start and the Office of Child Care, and their health partners across HHS. Office of Child Care-The Office of Child Care (OCC) supports low-income working families by improving access to affordable, high-quality early care and afterschool programs. It administers the CCDF. Peer-Used to refer to individuals at two different levels: across lead agencies or (state teams) and within state teams. At the primary level, a peer is a person or a team that represents a state, or territory (peers across state teams). At the secondary level, there are peers within state teams. Peer Learning Group/Community-Groups of individuals exchanging knowledge and experience with each other, and potentially diffusing this learning back to their organizations to ensure an impact-at scale-on reform initiatives; terms used by the National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (NCECQA) and the National Center for Afterschool and Summer Enrichment (NCASE) staff (respectively) to refer to their peer learning opportunities. Peer Learning Opportunity-Specific technical assistance opportunity offered to CCDF grantees. Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS)-A systemic approach to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early and school-age care and education programs. Regional Offices-The ACF Office of Regional Operations has ten regional offices that serve states, territories, tribes, and other grantees in their geographical area. State contractors-Non-state employees. State representatives-Both state employees and state contractors. Theory of change-A projected path to short-term, intermediate, and long-term learning outcomes by outlining causal linkages in the TA process.
Journal of Education Human Resources
The success of preschool programs is largely dependent upon a high-quality teaching workforce. Pr... more The success of preschool programs is largely dependent upon a high-quality teaching workforce. Preschool educators are critical in supporting a child’s socio-emotional development, motivation, school readiness, achievement, and overall learning. While expected to be professionally prepared similarly to their colleagues from elementary and secondary education, public preschool teachers face substantial underpayment and a higher workload. This study, which was part of a larger study focused on the Kentucky early childhood workforce, presents findings on compensation inequity for teachers and teaching assistants working with children aged three to five years in public preschool programs. The average public preschool teacher reported having a college degree with 11 years of experience in their current position and 12 years of experience in public preschool. The average teaching assistant reported having some college credits or a Child Development Associate degree with six years of exper...
This handbook synthesizes both contemporary research and best practices in early childhood teache... more This handbook synthesizes both contemporary research and best practices in early childhood teacher education, a unique segment of teacher education defined by its focus on child development, the role of the family, and support for all learners. The first volume of its kind, the Handbook of Early Childhood Teacher Education provides comprehensive coverage on key topics in the field, including the history of early childhood teacher education programs, models for preparing early childhood educators, pedagogical approaches to supporting diverse learners, and contemporary influences on this quickly expanding area of study.
SLaTE 2019: 8th ISCA Workshop on Speech and Language Technology in Education, 2019
Assessing child growth in terms of speech and language is a crucial indicator of long term learni... more Assessing child growth in terms of speech and language is a crucial indicator of long term learning ability and lifelong progress. Since the preschool classroom provides a potent opportunity for monitoring growth in young children's interactions, analyzing such data has come into prominence for early childhood researchers. The foremost task of any analysis of such naturalistic recordings would involve parsing and tagging the interactions between adults and young children. An automated tagging system will provide child interaction metrics and would be important for any further processing. This study investigates the language environment of 3-5 year old children using a CRSS based diarization strategy employing an i-vector-based baseline that captures adult-to-child or childto-child rapid conversational turns in a naturalistic noisy early childhood setting. We provide analysis of various loss functions and learning algorithms using Deep Neural Networks to separate child speech from adult speech. Performance is measured in terms of diarization error rate, Jaccard error rate and shows good results for tagging adult vs children's speech. Distinction between primary and secondary child would be useful for monitoring a given child and analysis is provided for the same. Our diarization system provides insights into the direction for preprocessing and analyzing challenging naturalistic daylong child speech recordings.
International Journal of Speech Technology, 2019
Understanding and assessing child verbal communication patterns is critical in facilitating effec... more Understanding and assessing child verbal communication patterns is critical in facilitating effective language development. Typically speaker diarization is performed to explore children's verbal engagement. Understanding which activity areas stimulate verbal communication can help promote more efficient language development. In this study, we present a twostage children vocal engagement prediction system that consists of (1) a near to real-time, noise robust system that measures the duration of child-to-adult and child-to-child conversations, and tracks the number of conversational turn-takings, (2) a novel child location tracking strategy, that determines in which activity areas a child spends most/least of their time. A proposed child-adult turn-taking solution relies exclusively on vocal cues observed during the interaction between a child and other children, and/or classroom teachers. By employing a threshold optimized speech activity detection using a linear combination of voicing measures, it is possible to achieve effective speech/non-speech segment detection prior to conversion assessment. This TO-COMBO-SAD reduces classification error rates for adult-child audio by 21.34% and 27.3% compared to a baseline i-Vector and standard Bayesian Information Criterion diarization systems, respectively. In addition, this study presents a unique location tracking system adult-child that helps determine the quantity of child-adult communication in specific activity areas, and which activities stimulate voice communication engagement in a child-adult education space. We observe that our proposed location tracking solution offers unique opportunities to assess speech and language interaction for children, and quantify the location context which would contribute to improve verbal communication.
OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 2019
Community participation is vital to children’s development and provides opportunities to practice... more Community participation is vital to children’s development and provides opportunities to practice social communication skills. Although previous studies suggest that young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience decreased community participation, there is little empirical evidence on the precise patterns of participation that may influence social communication opportunities. Therefore, this pilot study investigated the communication among families of children with ASD ( n = 5) versus typical development (TD; n = 5) across various community locations. We used automated, objective measures: the Language ENvironmental Analysis (LENA) system™ to measure the amount of communication and integrated this with a Global Positioning System (GPS; that is, Qstarz™) to measure community location. Results showed that families of children with ASD and TD spent a similar amount of time in community locations; however, there were differences in the amount of adult talk directed towar...
The national emphasis on teacher effectiveness, high stakes accountability, and standards-based e... more The national emphasis on teacher effectiveness, high stakes accountability, and standards-based education has led to growing attention to the quality of teacher education. A recent report from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education calls for transforming teacher education programs through clinical teaching by preparing teachers to implement evidence-based instructional practices in the context of real classrooms (NCATE 2010).
Division For Early Childhood Council For Exceptional Children, 2007
/SDE). The DEC document includes three sections: "Curriculum"; "Assessment"; and "Program Evaluat... more /SDE). The DEC document includes three sections: "Curriculum"; "Assessment"; and "Program Evaluation." The intended audiences for the document include early childhood administrators and personnel who work with young children with disabilities. Teacher educators, those providing professional development, family members, and state and federal policy makers will also benefit from these materials. Background, History, and Context The NAEYC-NAECS/SDE position statement. As described in the NAEYC and NAECS/SDE document (2003), a number of converging factors led to the development of the two organizations' joint position statement. NAEYC and NAECS/SDE had previously published a joint position statement on early childhood curriculum and assessment (1990). Since then: Much more has become known about the power of highquality curriculum, effective assessment practices, and ongoing program evaluation to support better outcomes for young children. Yet the infrastructure of the early childhood education system, within and outside the public schools, has not allowed this knowledge to be fully used-resulting in curriculum, assessment systems, and program evaluation procedures that are not of consistently high quality. (NAEYC & NAECS/SDE, 2003, p. 5) THE DIVISION FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD of the Council for Exceptional Children 1
Dimensions of Early Childhood, 2007
Kindergarten Transition and Readiness
National Professional Development Center on Inclusion, 2008
Project Forum, Apr 1, 2009
Zero to Three, Mar 1, 2012
Final Report: The Impact of the Kentucky Professional Development Framework on Child Care, Head Start, and Public Preschool Classroom Quality and Child Outcomes, 2008
The University of Kentucky (UK) Human Development Institute (HDI) in collaboration with the UK De... more The University of Kentucky (UK) Human Development Institute (HDI) in collaboration with the UK Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling; University of Louisville; Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Division of Child Care; and Kentucky Department of Education, Division of Early Childhood Development, built on the current statewide evaluation of the state KIDS NOW Initiative by conducting research investigating the degree to which a statewide unified professional development framework impacted the educational level of early care and education providers and subsequent classroom quality. Moreover, the influence of these factors was examined to determine their impact on child outcomes. The research design included a multi-site, mixed-methods design with 228 centers and 312 classrooms and teachers that represented three types of classroom settings (child care, Head Start, and public preschool). Child outcome data were collected on 353 children across these settings.
Suggested Citation: Rous, B., Grove, J., Cox, M., Townley, K., & Crumpton, G. (2008). The impact of the Kentucky professional development framework on child care, head start and public preschool classroom quality and child outcomes. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky, Human Development Institute.
International Journal of Speech Technology (IJST), 2019
Hansen, J., Najafian, M., Lileikyte, R., Irvin, D., & Rous, B. (2019). Speech and language proces... more Hansen, J., Najafian, M., Lileikyte, R., Irvin, D., & Rous, B. (2019). Speech and language processing for assessing child-adult interaction based on diarization and location. International Journal of Speech Technology (IJST). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10772-019-09590-0
DEC Recommended Practices Monograph #8, 2020
Broadbent, C., Washburn, I., Rous, B., & McCormick, K. (2020). Understanding how transition affec... more Broadbent, C., Washburn, I., Rous, B., & McCormick, K. (2020). Understanding how transition affects resources of families that have a child with a disability using latent transition analysis. In B.S. Rous, T.W. McLaughlin, & S.R. Sandall, (Eds.), Transition: Supporting Changes in Services and Settings (DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 8, pp. 37-47). Washington, DC: Division for Early Childhood.
DEC Recommended Practices Monograph #8, 2020
Rous, B., Gooden, C., Hallam, R., & **Chapman, K. (2020). Using a transition plan to promote indi... more Rous, B., Gooden, C., Hallam, R., & **Chapman, K. (2020). Using a transition plan to promote individualized transition services. In B.S. Rous, T.W. McLaughlin, & S.R. Sandall, (Eds.), Transition: Supporting Changes in Services and Settings (DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 8, pp. 95-106). Washington, DC: Division for Early Childhood.
The Handbook of Applied Communication Research, 2020
When we were first approached about writing a chapter in a book about communication, we must say ... more When we were first approached about writing a chapter in a book about communication, we must say we were a little stymied. We felt we knew little about communication theory (after all, we are educational researchers). We most certainly knew we could write a chapter on design thinking, as we have been applying human-centered design in the education space across a number of settings, from early childhood to higher education. We also know a lot about training and teaching, so we are communicators. As we set out to craft this chapter, we found ourselves embarking on a grand adventure of exploring our tradecraft, design thinking, through the lens of creative communication. It is that journey we will share in this chapter.
In Couchenour, D. & Chrisman, J.K. (Eds). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education. , 2016
In P. Winton, J. McCollum, & C. Catlett (Eds.) Practical Approaches to Early Childhood Professional Development: Evidence, Strategies, and Resources. , 2008
Smith, B., & Rous, B. (2008).
In Galper, A., Sweeny, S. & Seefeldt, C. (Eds.). Continuing Issues in Early Childhood Education, 3rd ed. , 2009
Mallory, B., & Rous, B. (2009). In Galper, A., Sweeny, S. & Seefeldt, C. (Eds.). Continuing Issu... more Mallory, B., & Rous, B. (2009). In Galper, A., Sweeny, S. & Seefeldt, C. (Eds.). Continuing Issues in Early Childhood Education, 3rd ed. Merrill Education/Prentice Hall.
In. P. Wesley & V. Buysse (Eds). The quest for quality: Promising innovations for early childhood programs. , 2010
Rous, B., & Townley, K.F. (2010). In. P. Wesley & V. Buysse (Eds). The quest for quality: Pro... more Rous, B., & Townley, K.F. (2010). In. P. Wesley & V. Buysse (Eds). The quest for quality: Promising innovations for early childhood programs. Baltimore MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
In M. Zaslow, I. Martinez-Beck, K. Tout, & T. Hallee (Eds.) Quality Measurement in Early Childhood Settings. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing., 2011
Hegland, S.M., Aronson, S.S., Isbell, P.I., Benjamin, S., Rous, B.S., & Krajicek, M.J. (2011). ... more Hegland, S.M., Aronson, S.S., Isbell, P.I., Benjamin, S., Rous, B.S., & Krajicek, M.J. (2011). In M. Zaslow, I. Martinez-Beck, K. Tout, & T. Hallee (Eds.) Quality Measurement in Early Childhood Settings. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.
In C. J. Groark (Series Ed.) & L. Kaczmarek (Vol. Ed.) Early childhood intervention: Shaping the future for children with special needs and their families, three volumes: Vol. 3., 2011
In C. J. Groark (Series Ed.) & L. Kaczmarek (Vol. Ed.) Early childhood intervention: Shaping the ... more In C. J. Groark (Series Ed.) & L. Kaczmarek (Vol. Ed.) Early childhood intervention: Shaping the future for children with special needs and their families, three volumes: Vol. 3. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Praeger Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Praeger.
DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series, 2015
DEC Recommended Practices: Enhancing Services for Young Children With Disabilities and Their Fami... more DEC Recommended Practices: Enhancing Services for Young Children With Disabilities and Their Families aims to help bridge the gap between research and practice by highlighting practices that have been shown through research to result in better outcomes for young children with disabilities, their families, and the personnel who serve them.
ISBN: 978-0-9819327-9-8
In C. J. Groark (Series Ed.) & S. Eidelman (Vol. Ed.) Early childhood intervention: Shaping the future for children with special needs and their families, three volumes: Vol. 1., 2011
In C. J. Groark (Series Ed.) & S. Eidelman (Vol. Ed.) Early childhood intervention: Shaping the f... more In C. J. Groark (Series Ed.) & S. Eidelman (Vol. Ed.) Early childhood intervention: Shaping the future for children with special needs and their families, three volumes: Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Praeger Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Praeger.
In C. J. Groark (Series Ed.) & S. Eidelman (Vol. Ed.) Early childhood intervention: Shaping the future for children with special needs and their families, three volumes: Vol. 1. , 2011
In C. J. Groark (Series Ed.) & S. Eidelman (Vol. Ed.) Early childhood intervention: Shaping the f... more In C. J. Groark (Series Ed.) & S. Eidelman (Vol. Ed.) Early childhood intervention: Shaping the future for children with special needs and their families, three volumes: Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Praeger
In V. Buysse & E. Peisner-Feinberg (Ed.) Handbook of Response to Intervention (RTI) in Early Childhood. , 2013
In O. Saracho (Ed.). Handbook of Research Methods in Early Childhood Education. , 2014
The Handbook of Research Methods in Early Childhood Education brings together in one source resea... more The Handbook of Research Methods in Early Childhood Education brings together in one source research techniques that researchers can use to collect data for studies that contribute to the knowledge in early childhood education. To conduct valid and reliable studies, researchers need to be knowledgeable about numerous research methodologies.
In S.L Kagan & R.E. Gomez (Eds.) Governing Early Childhood Development and Education: Polemics and Possibilities. , 2015
Responding to the current national concern for enhanced commitments to early education, this book... more Responding to the current national concern for enhanced commitments to early education, this book examines what states are currently doing, what has proven effective, and what the existing body of knowledge offers educators, policymakers and others seeking successful approaches to governance. Featuring chapters by prominent, thoughtful scholars and practitioners, this is the first volume to specifically focus on early childhood governance. Reflective and prospective, this seminal contribution is designed to be immediately germane to the burgeoning field of ECE. Readers will find the latest thinking, most recent experiences, and an honest review of the governance issues facing ECE today and into the future—all in one resource.
In L.J. Couse & S.L. Recchia (Eds.) The Handbook of Early Childhood and Teacher Education. , 2016
This handbook synthesizes both contemporary research and best practices in early childhood teache... more This handbook synthesizes both contemporary research and best practices in early childhood teacher education, a unique segment of teacher education defined by its focus on child development, the role of the family, and support for all learners. The first volume of its kind, the Handbook of Early Childhood Teacher Education provides comprehensive coverage on key topics in the field, including the history of early childhood teacher education programs, models for preparing early childhood educators, pedagogical approaches to supporting diverse learners, and contemporary influences on this quickly expanding area of study.
In Jones, S.M. & Lesaux, N.K. (Eds). The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education: Linking Science to Policy for a new Generation of Pre-K. , 2016
The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education aims to support the effort to simultaneously scale ... more The Leading Edge of Early Childhood Education aims to support the effort to simultaneously scale up and improve the quality of early childhood education by bringing together relevant insights from emerging research to provide guidance for this critical, fledgling field. It reflects the growing recognition that early childhood experiences have a powerful effect on children’s later academic achievement and long-term life outcomes.
Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services., 2022
Graf, E., Kubelka, J., Hafford, C., Hernandez, M., and Rous, B. (2022). Lessons learned from eval... more Graf, E., Kubelka, J., Hafford, C., Hernandez, M., and Rous, B. (2022). Lessons learned from evaluating a complex, multi-tiered T/TA system focused on CCDF grantees. OPRE Report #2023-141, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/report/lessons-learned-evaluating-complex-multi-tiered-t/ta-system-focused-ccdf
Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. , 2022
Graf, E., Kubelka, J., Schwartzman, T., Hafford, C., Hernandez, M. & Rous, B. (2022). A Study of ... more Graf, E., Kubelka, J., Schwartzman, T., Hafford, C., Hernandez, M. & Rous, B. (2022). A Study of Peer Learning Opportunities for CCDF Grantees, OPRE Report # 2023-119, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/OPRE_peer_learning_report_july2023.pdf
Technical Report, 2013
This study investigated how teacher characteristics, including education level and salary, as wel... more This study investigated how teacher characteristics, including education level and salary, as well as classroom quality relate to child outcomes in a sample of Kentucky preschools. The study provides valuable information for educators, researchers, and policy makers regarding how these factors interact and what impacts changes in teacher education requirements might have on classroom quality and child academic outcomes. Results may be used to inform policy with respect to teacher education level in particular as this could affect child outcomes. The study findings also have implications for researchers regarding the consequences of late pretesting,
impacts of random assignment, and choice of instruments
KY TQRIS Pilot Study Technical Report, 2016
The RTT-ELC pilot was designed to determine the feasibility and potential impact of the proposed ... more The RTT-ELC pilot was designed to determine the feasibility and potential impact of the proposed Tiered Quality Rating Improvement System standards on licensed child care, public Pre-K and Head Start programs. The pilot was designed by a state team comprised of representatives from the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood, Division of Child Care, Kentucky Department of Education, and University of Kentucky with consultation from a National Expert Panel. Results from the pilot were also designed to help inform decision making regarding structure, implementation, ongoing maintenance, and future validation and/or evaluation of the efficacy of the All STARS TQRIS.
Transition between and among programs is a major part of the lives of young children and families... more Transition between and among programs is a major part of the lives of young children and families. Results are presented from a national validation survey of early childhood and early childhood special education professionals of key practices that support the transition process as children leave early intervention and enter preschool and as they leave preschool and enter kindergarten. A total of 21 practices were identified through a series of studies that included administrators, providers, and family members. Of the 21 practices, all were validated by 75% of the respondents, while 20 were validated by 90% or more of the 419 respondents. A description of each practice is provided, along with specific examples of how the practice could be implemented across program types.
A series of six regional working forums were held across five states to identify issues, barriers... more A series of six regional working forums were held across five states to identify issues, barriers, and successful strategies encountered during transition for young children with disabilities and their families. Transitions for two specific groups were targeted; (a) children with significant disabilities and their families, and (b) children with disabilities from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their families. Data across forums were analyzed and core issues across groups (state and participants types) were identified, collapsed, and used to create 4 Delphi surveys to determine critical issues by population. Participants were asked to rank the importance of barriers for children with significant disabilities and children with disabilities from culturally diverse backgrounds and their families. Results indicate that 25 of the 108 barriers included in the surveys met the criteria of a rating of 6.0 or higher on a scale of 1 to 10. Seven barriers were identified as relevant to children from culturally diverse backgrounds, ten were relevant for children with significant disabilities, and eight were relevant for children from both groups and their families.
The complexities of transition require a multi-dimensional infrastructure which goes beyond the m... more The complexities of transition require a multi-dimensional infrastructure which goes beyond the minimal legal requirements, if transitions are to be smooth for both children and families and result in positive outcomes. For effective transitions to occur, a sound and supportive state infrastructure must be created which is aligned across both state and local levels. Next, multiple complementary infrastructures are needed for state and local organizations. The final ingredients that provide the "glue" for the complementary infrastructures are relationships and communication. National Early Childhood Transition Center research of states' policies and practices studied the role of State Interagency Coordinating Councils (SICCs), Part C agencies, and Part B Section 619 State Coordinators, with regard to state policies for the transitions of young children with disabilities and their families.
This document is a summary of key findings from a review of the child-focused literature related ... more This document is a summary of key findings from a review of the child-focused literature related to early childhood transition conducted through the National Early Childhood Transition Center (NECTC; Rosenkoetter, Schroeder, Rous, Hains, Shaw, & McCormick, 2009). Findings are included for practices supported by a large/moderate extent of evidence using the following criteria: 1) supported by more than one large scale study; 2) reported as having participants who were representative of the population of the country; and 3) when aggregated, included a total sample size of 350 or greater. For each finding, supporting references are provided.
... For example, Entwisle & Alexander (1998) found that a child's preschool experience a... more ... For example, Entwisle & Alexander (1998) found that a child's preschool experience and initial transition to school had a direct impact on ... Within a systems theory approach, Lambert, Collay, Dietz, Kent, and Richert (1997) present a model that supports a shift from a hierarchical ...
DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 8, 2020
Rous, B., Mclaughlin, T.W., & Sandall, S.R. (Eds). (2020). Transition: Supporting changes in serv... more Rous, B., Mclaughlin, T.W., & Sandall, S.R. (Eds). (2020). Transition: Supporting changes in services and settings (DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series No. 8). Washington, DC: Division for Early Childhood.
Baltimore MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing.