Research that benefits children and families

     This week my blog post will discuss the positive results research can have on children and families that participate in the studies.  As I read the assigned chapter in our text this week-I realized that research can become skewed and actually cause more harm to the participants than good.  “Though research is essential if our understanding of human development is to be advanced, the history of research is littered with examples of harm caused by researchers to their subjects.  (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).  In effort to share some positive light on research-I found an article about research conducted at Educare schools (www.educareshcool.org) related to my topic of research-continuity of care.  

  

     Continuity of care is a process that can prepare children for school and is not subjected to one type of educational program.  Continuity of care offers the child to become familiar with their educational surroundings and their teachers; in return gives them a better chance at school readiness with developed social/emotional and cognitive skills.  Educare schools have had researchers from the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FGP) conduct a research study to prove that continuity of care has positive results even for children that are from families that are living in poverty or are learning to speak English as a second language.  “Beginning with two Schools in 2005 and now covering 12 Schools, the FPG study shows that low-income children (including children with limited proficiency in English) who enroll in Educare as infants or toddlers enter Kindergarten with the same skills as their middle-income peers.”  (Educare, 2013).  

     This is positive research that did not harm any students but shows the positive effects of how continuity of care can have on a child despite their socio-economic standing.  The Educare research proves that continuity of care would be beneficial to children and allows them opportunities that would prepare them for school just as prepared as their peers have that grow up in homes with that have parents with higher incomes.  

     For more information about the Educare study; you can visit the following links: http://www.educareschools.org/about/pdfs/Demonstrating-Results.pdf or

http://eln.fpg.unc.edu/

Resources:

Educare Learning Network, (2013).  Demonstrating Results.  Retrieved from http://www.educareschools.org/about/pdfs/Demonstrating-Results.pdf

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010). Doing early childhood research: International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.). Chapter 5, Ethics in Early Childhood Research, pp73-84.New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.