James Elicker

In this research Elicker and student colleagues are evaluating the effectiveness of a new training program for child care providers called Tuning In .  a collaboration with colleagues at Leiden University , Netherlands .  Tuning In is modeled after a mother-child intervention program with demonstrated effectiveness in the Netherlands and other countries.  The main objective of Tuning In is to help child care providers become more sensitive and responsive to individual children in the context of group child care.  Tuning In is a short-term intervention program that includes a series of observation and consultation sessions, caregiver self-observations and reflections using a video-feedback technique, plus additional self-assessments and goal-setting.  All of the intervention procedures are focused on increasing responsiveness.  The design of the evaluation is a randomized clinical trial, with caregivers from Early Head Start and other center-based infant-toddler child care centers in northern Indiana , including control providers who received information but no direct consultation or video-feedback sessions.  Pre- and post-test assessments employ videotaped observational measures of sensitivity and responsiveness with established validity.  If shown to be effective, Tuning In has the potential to improve the quality of infant-toddler child care.

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