Variations in Implementation of Quality Interventions (VIQI): Examining the Quality Child Outcomes Relationship in Child Care and Early Education

2016-2025

Variations in Implementation of Quality Interventions (VIQI) Logo

Experts agree that the quality of children’s early care and educational experiences is critical for promoting children’s development. However, there is a lack of consensus around which aspects of quality matter most and how quality enhancement efforts should be designed in order to reliably promote children’s developmental outcomes. This is particularly important given how varied the landscape of child care, Head Start, and early care and education is across the country.

The VIQI project is a large-scale, rigorous, multi-year study that started in 2016. It is being conducted in two key stages to address these issues and to build substantial new evidence to inform center-based child care and Head Start policies and practices. The VIQI project is guided by the following research questions:

  • What are the effects of different curricular and professional development interventions on classroom quality and children’s outcomes, compared to preschool classrooms not receiving such interventions?
  • Do the effects of each intervention vary based on initial levels of classroom quality, classroom setting (Head Start versus child care), and classroom age composition (mixed-age classrooms versus 4-year-olds only-classrooms)?
  • Do overall improvements in classroom quality promote children’s outcomes?
  • Do different dimensions of classroom quality affect children’s outcomes in different ways?
  • Do certain levels of classroom quality need to be met to promote children’s outcomes?
  • Do classrooms with different levels of readiness to implement the intervention benefit from quality improvement efforts differently?
  • Do classrooms with different initial levels of classroom quality benefit from quality improvement efforts differently?

The first stage of the VIQI project, conducted from 2016-2019, included a pilot feasibility study to refine data collection protocols and measures. This pilot study then informed the second stage of the VIQI project, a larger-scale impact and implementation study that began in 2021. At the core of the project is a 3-group randomized controlled study that includes two intervention groups and one comparison group. The study tests two theoretically distinct interventions consisting of curricular and professional development supports that target different dimensions of classroom quality (structural, interactional, instructional). The VIQI project is designed to examine how these interventions improve classroom quality and various child outcomes in mixed-aged classrooms serving 3- and 4-year-olds in community-based child care and Head Start settings.

To learn more about the study design and interventions, timeline and theoretical framework underlying the VIQI project, refer to our VIQI Project Description (PDF).

The VIQI project is being conducted through a contract with MDRC and its subcontractors Margaret Burchinal at the University of Virginia, MEF Associates, RTI, and Abt Associates.

Point(s) of contact: Ivelisse Martinez-Beck, Tracy Carter Clopet, and Laura Cutler.

Information collections related to this project have been reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under OMB #0970-0508. Related materials are available at the https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=201805-0970-003  page on RegInfo.gov.

The most currently approved documents are accessible by clicking on the ICR Ref. No. with the most recent conclusion date. To access the information collections (e.g. interviews, surveys, protocols), click on View Information Collection (IC) List. Click on View Supporting Statement and Other Documents to access other supplementary documents.

Information collections related to this project have also been reviewed and approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under ACF’s Generic Clearance for Formative Data Collections for ACF Research (OMB #0970-0356). Related materials are available at the Variations in Implementation of Quality Interventions page on RegInfo.gov.

Related Resources

This brief describes the VIQI project, its key research questions, and the conceptual framework underlying the project.

The VIQI study will test how different levels and features of classroom quality relate to children’s developmental outcomes. The study will look at the relationship of initial child care and early education (CCEE) classroom quality to changes in observed quality and children’s outcomes through a rigorous experimental design...