What We Do

The STREAMin3 Impact Project will examine the initial impact of the STREAMin3 curriculum model. STREAMin3 is a fully developed, comprehensive, and integrated birth through preschool curriculum and professional development model. Members of the research team developed this model in partnership with state early childhood education advocates. It has been piloted within the state of Virginia. Using a cluster-randomized control trial design, we will examine whether and how using STREAMin3 supports teachers’ instructional practices and children’s school readiness skills.

Project Information

Funding Source: U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). 
Principal Investigators: Amanda Williford (PI), Virginia Vitello (Co-PI)
Project Status: Active

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A240080 to the University of Virginia. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent the views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

Providing early childhood educators with a comprehensive and integrated curriculum package that can be used in all classrooms and includes implementation supports, such as aligned professional development (PD) holds significant potential to improve the early learning experiences of our youngest citizens.

STREAMin3 incorporates developmental and early education research and builds on our experience working in early education classrooms and with teachers. It includes activities and routines for the classroom, formative assessments, and embedded and aligned PD to support implementation. We piloted the curriculum, and it is being examined through non-causal, implementation-focused research. Through a research-practice-policy partnership (RPPP) with VDOE, the curriculum is now being offered as an option for Virginia early education programs that receive state or federal funding. It is currently being scaled in over 4000 early childhood classrooms within 872 programs.

In this initial efficacy study, we will test this innovative curriculum model, designed for use at-scale across early childhood education sectors in Virginia and beyond. In a cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT), we will evaluate whether STREAMin3 is effective in improving 1) preschool children’s school readiness skills including language, literacy, mathematics, science, self-regulation, and social skills, and 2) the quality of teacher-child interactions, culturally sensitive interactions, instructional content, proactive social-emotional strategies, and teachers’ self-efficacy when implemented in private, center-based, early education programs. We will test child and teacher outcomes after the second year of implementation. To extend our understanding of how programs uptake a new comprehensive curriculum, we will non-causally explore whether variability in STREAMin3 implementation is linked with teacher and child outcomes.

STREAMin3

For more information about the STREAMin3 Curriculum Model, visit the full external website. 

Who is Eligible?

For this study, we are seeking programs that meet the following criteria: 

  • Private Childcare Programs in Virginia (e.g., licensed, license-exempt, for-profit, not-for-profit, and/or faith-based programs are welcome). 
  • Programs that have never used the STREAMin3 curriculum
  • Programs that have at least two classrooms that serve children ages 3-5 years.

What Does Participation Mean?

Participating programs will be randomly selected for one of the two conditions, either continue their current curriculum practices (BAU) or to use the STREAMin3 curriculum model in all their classes for two years. All participating programs will engage in data collection in selected classrooms, including video-recorded observations, leader and teacher surveys, and direct assessments of selected preschool-aged children.

To assist with implementation and data collection, participating programs will receive: 

  • A tablet to support data collection 
  • Access to a report of the program’s baseline and outcome data. 
  • Access to the STREAMin3 curriculum through an interactive online digital portal.* 
  • A library of high-quality children’s books.*

*Programs randomly assigned to the BAU condition will be provided with access to the curriculum and the books after the collection of outcome data (Spring 2027).

Interested in Learning More?

For more information about this study or to see if your program might be eligible, email our team at [email protected].

 

Information for Potential Participants

More details about participating in the study are available at the one-pager linked below.

Project Team

Patricia Bennett-Wilhem Profile Photo

Patricia Bennett-Wilhem

  • STREAMin3 Coach
Kelsey Clayback Profile Photo

Kelsey Clayback

  • Postdoctoral Research Associate
Jamie DeCoster Profile Photo

Jamie DeCoster

  • Research Associate Professor
Lydia Jordan Profile Photo

Lydia Jordan

  • Early Childhood Education (ECE) Coach
Alexandra Manso Profile Photo

Alexandra Manso

  • STREAMin3 Coach
Kate Matthew

Kate Matthew

  • Senior Project Manager
  • STREAMin3 Project Director
Laura McWhinney

Laura McWhinney

  • Senior Data Specialist

Tara Powell

  • Lead of Professional Development Team STREAMin3
Autumn Shaffer Profile Photo

Autumn Shaffer

  • Project Associate
Virginia (Ginny) E Vitiello

Virginia E. Vitiello

  • Research Associate Professor
Amanda P Williford

Amanda P. Williford

  • Batten Bicentennial Professor of Early Childhood Education Associate Director for Early Childhood Education
  • CASTL Clinical Psychologist
Vivian Wong

Vivian Wong

  • Associate Professor

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