Effects of professional development in family daycare: Evidence from a randomized field experiment
Abstract
We use a large-scale randomized field experiment to examine if a professional development program for family daycare providers that focuses on language and interactions between the provider and the child can improve language and social-emotional skills for children under three years old. Despite careful program implementation consistent with the established practices of the family daycare providers, we find no significant effects on child outcomes. We provide potential explanations for the observed lack of effects, highlighting the need for future research to scrutinize implementation processes and incorporate external evaluations of child outcomes.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Diverse Educational Innovations Studies
Educational Environments and Student Outcomes
Early Childhood Education and Development
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Economics of Education Review
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Volume
- 112
- Pages
- 102790–102790
- Publication date
- 30 April 2026
- Language
- EN