Janet Welsh, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor of Health and Human Development
College of Health and Human Development, Penn State
Karen Bierman, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Psychology and
Director, Child Study Center
College of the Liberal Arts, Penn State
Claudia Mincemoyer, Ph.D.
Professor of 4-H Youth Curriculum Development
College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State
“Promoting School Readiness in Child Care Centers:
The REDI BKC Project”
Presentation Abstract
Approximately 11 million children age 5 and younger receive child care in the United
States, and of these, one-quarter are served in child care centers. Although some of
these centers are highly regulated and provide high-quality early education and care,
most (90%) operate without national accreditation and with minimal quality
standards. The goal of this project is to adapt an evidence-based school readiness
program, REDI (Research-based, Developmentally Informed), for use in child care
centers serving socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Key to the adaptation
will be the use of a sustainable on-line distance learning infrastructure, Better Kid
Care (BKC), managed by Cooperative Extension, to provide accessible and affordable
professional development support to teachers and their supervising center directors.
In this talk we will provide a brief overview of REDI, the Better Kid Care system, and
the planned project, and discuss several critical issues associated with the
implementation and evaluation models, focusing especially on issues in the
translation and scale-up of evidence-based programs.