Acfas Congress: 4-year-old kindergartens, no better than CPEs

The quality of educational services in 4-year-old kindergarten is not higher than in CPEs, concludes the very first Quebec study that allows a direct comparison of the two formulas.

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“There are really few significant differences between 4-year-old kindergartens and CPEs in terms of the quality of interactions,” says Maude Roy-Vallières, lecturer and doctoral student at UQAM who will present her preliminary results at the Acfas congress taking place this week.

This research is based on four 30-minute observation sessions in 45 4-year-old kindergarten classes and 45 groups of 4-year-old children in CPEs.

The preliminary results follow visits to 83 settings. The quality of interactions between adults and children is rated on a scale of 1 to 7.

4-year-old kindergartens and CPEs obtained a medium to high score (between 5 and 6) in terms of emotional support for the child and organization of the class.

The results are weaker for the two environments concerning learning support (asking the child questions, having a conversation with him, using a diversified vocabulary), for which the score is rather between 2 and 3.

However, these results are comparable to those obtained around the world, says Ms.^me Roy-Vallieres.

More experienced educators

The only difference observed is at the level of the consideration of the child’s point of view, which makes it possible to evaluate the extent to which the activities are adjusted according to the momentary interests of the toddlers. CPEs have a slight lead in this regard.

This study also revealed that the educators surveyed had on average twice as much experience as the teachers (18 years compared to 9 years). However, the latter have twice as many hours of continuing education over a year as educators in CPEs (20 hours compared to 10).

In recent years, various studies had been carried out on the quality of services in the two settings, but comparisons remained difficult to make since the tools used were not the same, explains Ms.^me Roy-Vallieres. The latter wanted to push the exercise further in the context where the Legault government has made the development of 4-year-old kindergarten its top priority in education.

To change or not?

To parents who are wondering what is the best choice, Maude Roy-Vallières replies that it is above all a personal decision, considering the few differences observed in this study.

“But if the child is well in his CPE, we don’t really see any reason to change his environment”, she specifies.