Using bifactor models to measure teacher–child interaction quality in early childhood: Evidence from the Caregiver Interaction Scale

Abstract Bifactor models have great promise to support the measurement of adult–child interaction in early childhood settings but are not frequently used in the field. This study explored whether a bifactor model fit teacher–child interaction data gathered from the Caregiver Interaction Scale (CIS; Arnett, 1989) in four cohorts of the recent Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) study (1997–2006). Analyses also examined concurrent validity of this approach using several teacher- and child-level variables. In total, 1422 Head Start classrooms were observed with the CIS. Factor analyses found that a bifactor model, featuring one factor for overall positive teacher–child interaction as well as two methodological factors accounting for whether items targeted appropriate or (reverse-coded) inappropriate behaviors, fit the data well, consistent with other recent work. Further, evidence of concurrent validity for this bifactor model of teacher-child interaction emerged with lead teachers’ background factors (experience and CDA credential) and their global classroom quality, as well as children’s prosocial skills. Overall, results illustrate both the utility and logistics of the bifactor model approach to measuring interaction quality in early childhood settings.

[1]  J. Willett,et al.  Poverty, Relationship Conflict, and the Regulation of Cortisol in Small and Large Group Contexts at Child Care , 2009 .

[2]  M. Bornstein,et al.  Maternal responsiveness and cognitive development in children. , 1989, New directions for child development.

[3]  Elizabeth N. Bolt,et al.  Associations of Preschool Type and Teacher–Child Relational Quality With Young Children's Social-Emotional Competence , 2014 .

[4]  Michael J. Keane,et al.  A Descriptive Study of Head Start Families: FACES Technical Report I. , 2002 .

[5]  L. Whiteside-Mansell,et al.  Improved classroom quality and child behavior in an Arkansas early childhood mental health consultation pilot project. , 2012, Infant mental health journal.

[6]  Jinseok Kim,et al.  Segregated from the Start: Peer Context in Center-Based Child Care. , 2012 .

[7]  R. Cattell.  The Scree Test For The Number Of Factors. , 1966, Multivariate behavioral research.

[8]  C. Howes.  Peer interaction of young children , 1989 .

[9]  R. Pianta,et al.  Are teachers’ education, major, and credentials related to classroom quality and children's academic gains in pre-kindergarten? , 2006 .

[10]  Debbie L. Hahs-Vaughn,et al.  Patterns of School Readiness among Head Start Children: Meaningful Within-Group Variability during the Transition to Kindergarten. , 2012 .

[11]  N. Zill.  Head Start FACES 2000: A Whole-Child Perspective on Program Performance , 2003 .

[12]  T. Brown,et al.  Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research , 2006 .

[13]  C. Howes,et al.  Social-emotional classroom climate in child care, child–teacher relationships and children's second grade peer relations. , 2000 .

[14]  Debbie L. Hahs-Vaughn,et al.  National profiles of school readiness skills for Head Start children: An investigation of stability and change , 2012 .

[15]  J. Miller,et al.  Quality improvements in the early care and education workforce: outcomes and impact of the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood Project. , 2009, Evaluation and program planning.

[16]  K. Rudasill,et al.  Temperamental attention and activity, classroom emotional support, and academic achievement in third grade. , 2010, Journal of school psychology.

[17]  Richard Rowe,et al.  Identifying the irritability dimension of ODD: Application of a modified bifactor model across five large community samples of children. , 2014, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[18]  Annemarie H. Hindman,et al.  Teacher qualifications, classroom practices, family characteristics, and preschool experience: Complex effects on first graders' vocabulary and early reading outcomes. , 2005 .

[19]  Ken A. Fujimoto,et al.  An assessment of the validity of the ECERS-R with implications for measures of child care quality and relations to child development. , 2013, Developmental psychology.

[20]  Scott D. Gest,et al.  Effects of Head Start REDI on children's outcomes 1 year later in different kindergarten contexts. , 2014, Child development.

[21]  Ajay Das,et al.  The Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices (TEIP) Scale: Dimensionality and Factor Structure. , 2016 .

[22]  D. Entwisle,et al.  Achievement in the first 2 years of school: patterns and processes. , 1989, Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.

[23]  Donald Hedeker,et al.  Full-information item bi-factor analysis , 1992 .

[24]  M. A. Lyon,et al.  A Validity Study of the Social Skills Rating System-Teacher Version with Disabled and Nondisabled Preschool Children , 1996, Perceptual and motor skills.

[25]  M. Stoolmiller,et al.  Preventing conduct problems and improving school readiness: evaluation of the Incredible Years Teacher and Child Training Programs in high-risk schools. , 2008, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[26]  C. Raver,et al.  Targeting children's behavior problems in preschool classrooms: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. , 2009, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[27]  F. Chen.  Sensitivity of Goodness of Fit Indexes to Lack of Measurement Invariance , 2007 .

[28]  Camilla A. Heid,et al.  Third Grade Follow-Up to the Head Start Impact Study: Final Report. OPRE Report 2012-45b. Executive Summary. , 2012 .

[29]  Robert C. Pianta,et al.  Teacher-child relationships and the process of adjusting to school , 1992 .

[30]  J. Fantuzzo,et al.  Multidimensionality of Teachers’ Graded Responses for Preschoolers’ Stylistic Learning Behavior: The Learning-to-Learn Scales , 2011 .

[31]  A. Acock.  Working With Missing Values , 2005 .

[32]  G. Resnick,et al.  Head Start FACES: Longitudinal Findings on Program Performance. Third Progress Report. , 2001 .

[33]  W. Velicer.  Determining the number of components from the matrix of partial correlations , 1976 .

[34]  J. Varni,et al.  Factorial invariance of pediatric patient self-reported fatigue across age and gender: a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis approach utilizing the PedsQL™ Multidimensional Fatigue Scale , 2013, Quality of Life Research.

[35]  B. Sen,et al.  Maternal prenatal substance use and behavior problems among children in the U.S. , 2007, The journal of mental health policy and economics.

[36]  J. Arnett.  Caregivers in day-care centers: Does training matter?☆ , 1989 .

[37]  Pam Sammons,et al.  Capturing Quality in Early Childhood through Environmental Rating Scales , 2006 .

[38]  Debbie L. Hahs-Vaughn,et al.  National Profiles of classroom quality and family involvement: A multilevel examination of proximal influences on Head Start children's school readiness , 2012 .

[39]  J. Tukey,et al.  Multiple-Factor Analysis , 1947 .

[40]  J. Arnett.  Arnett Caregiver Interaction Scale , 2013 .

[41]  L. Whiteside-Mansell,et al.  Beginning to “Unpack” Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation: Types of Consultation Services and Their Impact on Teachers , 2013 .

[42]  Robert C. Pianta,et al.  La & Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). Baltimore: Brookes. , 2008 .

[43]  Marley W. Watkins,et al.  Are Fit Indices Biased in Favor of Bi-Factor Models in Cognitive Ability Research?: A Comparison of Fit in Correlated Factors, Higher-Order, and Bi-Factor Models via Monte Carlo Simulations , 2015 .

[44]  Debbie L. Hahs-Vaughn,et al.  Head Start Program Quality: Examination of Classroom Quality and Parent Involvement in Predicting Children's Vocabulary, Literacy, and Mathematics Achievement Trajectories. , 2012 .

[45]  J. Lakin,et al.  Distinguishing verbal, quantitative, and figural facets of fluid intelligence in young students , 2012 .

[46]  H. Akaike.  Factor analysis and AIC , 1987 .

[47]  J. Stevens.  Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences , 1986 .

[48]  J. E. Fischel,et al.  Assessment of Preschool Classroom Practices: Application of Q-Sort Methodology. , 2006 .

[49]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .

[50]  Robert C. Pianta,et al.  Enhancing Relationships Between Children and Teachers , 1999 .

[51]  Pui‐wa Lei,et al.  Confirmatory factor analysis of the Early Arithmetic, Reading, and Learning Indicators (EARLI). , 2014, Journal of school psychology.

[52]  S. West,et al.  A Comparison of Bifactor and Second-Order Models of Quality of Life , 2006, Multivariate behavioral research.

[53]  Howard B. Lee,et al.  A first course in factor analysis , 1973 .

[54]  E. Peisner-Feinberg,et al.  The relation of preschool child-care quality to children's cognitive and social developmental trajectories through second grade. , 2001, Child development.

[55]  J. Grusec,et al.  Integrating different perspectives on socialization theory and research: a domain-specific approach. , 2010, Child development.

[56]  Keith F. Widaman,et al.  III. MISSING DATA: WHAT TO DO WITH OR WITHOUT THEM , 2006 .

[57]  Michael C. Rodriguez,et al.  Assessing Relational and Physical Aggression Among Preschool Children , 2003 .

[58]  J. Peterson,et al.  Marital Disruption, Parent-Child Relationships, and Behavior Problems in Children. , 1986 .

[59]  E. Hair,et al.  Profiles of school readiness among four-year-old Head Start children , 2012 .

[60]  M. Ainsworth,et al.  Origins of the Sense of Security. (Book Reviews: Patterns of Attachment. A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation) , 1978 .

[61]  Bridget E. Hatfield,et al.  Evidence for general and domain-specific elements of teacher-child interactions: associations with preschool children's development. , 2014, Child development.

[62]  B. Fuller,et al.  Child Care in Poor Communities: Early Learning Effects of Type, Quality, and Stability , 2003, Child development.

[63]  Timothy W. Curby,et al.  Teacher–child interactions and children’s achievement trajectories across kindergarten and first grade. , 2009 .

[64]  Jens Ludwig,et al.  Long‐Term Effects of Head Start on Low‐Income Children , 2008, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[65]  R. Henson,et al.  Use of Exploratory Factor Analysis in Published Research , 2006 .

[66]  A. Tomarken,et al.  Structural equation modeling: strengths, limitations, and misconceptions. , 2005, Annual review of clinical psychology.

[67]  Annemarie H. Hindman,et al.  Ecological contexts and early learning: Contributions of child, family, and classroom factors during Head Start, to literacy and mathematics growth through first grade , 2010 .

[68]  E. Zigler,et al.  Social competence: An untapped dimension in evaluating head start's success , 1997 .

[69]  E. Menaghan,et al.  Family social capital and children's behavior problems. , 1993 .

[70]  George Farkas,et al.  The language and literacy development of Head Start children: a study using the Family and Child Experiences Survey database. , 2010, Language, speech, and hearing services in schools.

[71]  Timothy R. Konold,et al.  The Relations of Observed Pre-K Classroom Quality Profiles to Children's Achievement and Social Competence , 2009 .

[72]  Annemarie H. Hindman,et al.  Conventional and Piecewise Growth Modeling Techniques , 2011, Evaluation review.

[73]  S. Son,et al.  Parent-school relationships and children's academic and social outcomes in public school pre-kindergarten. , 2010, Journal of school psychology.

[74]  Duane T. Wegener,et al.  Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. , 1999 .

[75]  L. Schweinhart.  The High/Scope Approach: Evidence that Participatory Learning in Early Childhood Contributes to Human Development. , 2006 .

[76]  R. MacCallum,et al.  Sample size in factor analysis. , 1999 .

[77]  P. Bentler,et al.  Evaluating model fit. , 1995 .

[78]  Annemarie H. Hindman,et al.  A portrait of family involvement during Head Start: Nature, extent, and predictors , 2012 .

[79]  S. Kontos,et al.  Does Training Make a Difference to Quality in Family Child Care , 1996 .

[80]  Andrew J. Mashburn,et al.  Teachers' education, classroom quality, and young children's academic skills: results from seven studies of preschool programs. , 2007, Child development.

[81]  Joseph Betts,et al.  Investigating Early Literacy and Numeracy: Exploring the Utility of the Bifactor Model. , 2011 .

[82]  M. Shaul.  Head Start: Increased Percentage of Teachers Nationwide Have Required Degrees, but Better Information on Classroom Teachers' Qualifications Needed. Report to Congressional Requesters. , 2003 .

[83]  Timothy J. Lewis,et al.  The Effectiveness of Two Universal Behavioral Supports for Children With Externalizing Behavior in Head Start Classrooms , 2011 .

[84]  K. Merrell,et al.  The alliance of adaptive behavior and social competence: an examination of relationship between the scales of Independent Behavior and the Social Skills Rating System. , 1994, Research in developmental disabilities.

[85]  Richard M. Clifford,et al.  Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale, Revised Edition , 1998 .

[86]  S. Reise.  The Rediscovery of Bifactor Measurement Models , 2012 .

[87]  J. Horn.  A rationale and test for the number of factors in factor analysis , 1965, Psychometrika.

[88]  Annemarie H. Hindman,et al.  Family Involvement and Educator Outreach in Head Start: Nature, Extent, and Contributions to Early Literacy Skills , 2011, The Elementary School Journal.

[89]  R. Hoyle.  Structural equation modeling: concepts, issues, and applications , 1997 .

[90]  D. Granger,et al.  Children's cortisol and the quality of teacher--child relationships in child care. , 2008, Child development.

[91]  S. Kellam,et al.  Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation--Revised , 2014 .

[92]  R. Charlesworth,et al.  Measuring the Developmental Appropriateness of Kindergarten Teachers' Beliefs and Practices. , 1993 .

[93]  Ken A. Fujimoto,et al.  New evidence on the validity of the Arnett Caregiver Interaction Scale: Results from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort. , 2013, Early childhood research quarterly.

[94]  Gordon W. Cheung,et al.  Evaluating Goodness-of-Fit Indexes for Testing Measurement Invariance , 2002 .

[95]  Robert C MacCallum,et al.  Recovery of Weak Common Factors by Maximum Likelihood and Ordinary Least Squares Estimation , 2003, Multivariate behavioral research.

[96]  E. Votruba-Drzal,et al.  Teacher-child relationships and the development of academic and behavioral skills during elementary school: a within- and between-child analysis. , 2011, Child development.

[97]  S. Son,et al.  Head Start Classrooms and Children’s School Readiness Benefit from Teachers’ Qualifications and Ongoing Training , 2013 .