We Grow Together (WGT) is a research-based professional development (PD) system for caregivers working with infants and toddlers in center-based care and family child care homes. As part of WGT, teachers and caregivers work with their PD providers (mentors, coaches, supervisors) using resources delivered through a website. The system supports caregivers in planning and using the WGT practices through relationship- and practice-based coaching. WGT was developed as part of the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation’s (OPRE’s) Professional Development Tools to Improve the Quality of Infant & Toddler Care (Q-CCIIT PD Tools) project.
This recorded session from the Society for Research in Child Development
2021 Biennial Meeting (SRCD 2021) featured a presentation highlighting
findings from a field test of WGT (beginning at time marker 46:24) alongside
presentations from two other projects not funded by OPRE. Taken together,
these projects illustrate how web-based professional development
approaches aim to target coach-caregiver interactions to improve caregiver-
child interactions.
The presentations in this session examine three web-based approaches that
build on evidence about supporting adult change through coaching
relationships with caregivers serving infants and toddlers: (1) FIND, a video-
based coaching program that identifies and strengthens positive interactions
between caregivers and children; (2) the VLS Momentum pilot that offers
caregivers a free, online, comprehensive foundational early care and
education training via trained coaches who observe/model practices and offer feedback; and (3) the WGT PD system, which provides online PD resources and local trained coaches who help caregivers engage in high-quality interactions to support children’s development.
Session Speakers:
• Louisa Tarullo, Mathematica (Chair)
• Juliet Taylor, University of Washington
• Sarah Lang, The Ohio State University
• Shannon Monahan, Mathematica
Reference in this recorded session to commercial products or services does
not constitute an endorsement by the Office of Planning, Research and
Evaluation, the Administration for Children and Families, or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
