Anti-Bias and Multicultural Classroom Observation Development Study

(This study received initial funding from NCEDL. However, it is being completed by Ellen Peisner-Feinberg. For more information, email her at peisnerf@mail.fpg.unc.edu)

Investigators: Ellen Peisner-Feinberg (peisnerf@mail.fpg.unc.edu) , Carollee Howes, Valerie Jarvis-McMillan

Research questions/goals:

• to examine potential relationships between the general quality of early childhood classroom environments and the extent to which such settings implemented an anti-bias curriculum
• to expand our understanding of "anti-bias" and "multiculturalism"
• to refine the Anti-Bias Curriculum (ABC) instrument itself

The Anti-Bias Curriculum approach to education is based on the philosophy that a just society requires the acknowledgment of biases and the proactive move towards changing the existence of such biases. The goals are to ensure that all individuals can participate in society and to allow for maintenance of culture, lifestyle, etc. An anti-bias approach requires a mindset of actively opposing biases in our society.

Three observation measures were developed in the early 1990s to evaluate a childcare center's approach to anti-bias curriculum. These instruments, each developed by one of the 3 investigators on this project, were limited in that they frequently failed to capture many important details since the measures called for only one 2-hour observation.

For this project, we created a fourth ABC instrument, adhering as closely as possible to NAEYC guidelines, but also remaining sensitive to the unique characteristics of the settings in which we piloted the instrument.

Challenges encountered: Instrument development proved to be perhaps the biggest challenge we faced. We endeavored to refine and validate the ABC measure while adhering as closely as possible to NAEYC guidelines, but also remaining sensitive to the unique characteristics of the settings in which we piloted the checklist. We succeeded in constructing instruments that were general enough in structure and content as to be applicable in all types of settings, but one that did not specifically capture unique objectives and processes that were significant to the settings' high quality and approach to individual differences.

We continue to struggle with the measure's degree of emphasis on "anti-bias" as opposed to "multiculturalism." Insights of observers who used the ABC were and continue to be critical in our decision making.

We are re-conceptualizing our research questions and goals. With our latest version of the measure, we are going to: 1) test the validity of the newest version of the Anti-Bias Curriculum Measure, i.e., whether this new measure tests something beyond the standardized childcare quality measures that already exist; 2) test the internal consistency within the measure itself, e.g., whether a high score on one dimension in the measure necessarily results in a high score for other dimensions in the measure.