Abstract

This study was conducted to examine two specific types of caregiver training in terms of the global quality provided by the caregivers, the level of sensitivity of the caregivers, and the language strategies used by the caregivers during structured story readings. A total of 18 female caregivers, working in day care centers located throughout the Montreal metropolitan area, participated in the study, and were between the ages of 25 and 52. Nine caregivers had previously completed a 3-year Early Childhood Education Program at a small Montreal college, while nine had previously completed a 14-month Attestation program at the same college. The researcher, as well as a research assistant, conducted observations over two half days in each classroom, as well as conducting an interview with each caregiver to obtain demographic data. Global quality was measured using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (Research Version) (Cassidy et al., 2005), sensitivity was measured using the Caregiver Interaction Scale (Arnett, 1989), and language strategies were measured using the Teacher Interaction and Language Rating Scale (Girolametto et al., 2000). Results revealed that caregivers who had completed the three-year ECE were rated significantly higher on all measures (global quality, sensitivity, and language strategies), highlighting the importance of experiencing an intense training program with more coursework and more fieldwork.