Identifying and Using Evidence-based Practices in Early Childhood

Recently, I was asked to speak at a conference on evidence-based practice. The conference organizers wanted me to talk about which practices in early childhood and early intervention were evidence-based. To get me started in thinking about this task, they offered to send me a list of practices that they considered evidence-based. One thing I immediately observed about the list they sent was that the practices were at many different levels. The practices could be placed on a continuum—from specific instructional or intervention strategies, to comprehensive curricula, to broader approaches such as early learning frameworks or systems consisting of multiple, related practices. I was struck by how confusing the term evidence-based practice continues to be to practitioners, families, and policy makers alike.

Does evidence-based practice mean that certain practices are supported by scientific evidence, whereas others are not? If so, which ones? And what do we mean by a practice? It may be helpful to think about evidence-based practice in two ways, and to incorporate both of these meanings in our professional development efforts.

First, evidence-based practice can be used to describe instructional and intervention practices (both broadly and narrowly defined approaches) that have research evidence of effectiveness. The What Works Clearinghouse is a good source to find early childhood practices that have been found to be effective through research. However, it is important to recognize that the early childhood field is at an early stage in appraising and synthesizing research-based knowledge.

Another way to think about evidence-based practice is that it is a decision-making process in which various sources of evidence (research, wisdom, values, and contexts) need to be taken into account. This second meaning suggests that effective practitioners recognize that they can use research findings, along with other sources of evidence (including assessment information that they gather themselves) to make sound decisions in collaboration with families and others.

Fortunately, we are beginning to organize professional development in a way that promotes the most effective, research-based practices as well as a process by which practitioners can make decisions about how to apply these practices in a way that reflects the needs and priorities of individual children and families and the contexts in which they receive early childhood services.