The Impact of the Effective Early Learning 'Quality Evaluation and Development' Process upon a Voluntary Sector Playgroup/Pre-school.

This collaborative action research project focused on the educational practice of a voluntary sector playgroup (preschool) in the United Kingdom. It utilized the Quality Evaluation and Development (QED) model to conduct an evaluation phase, action plan phase, development phase, and a reflection phase over the course of the 1994-95 school year. The evaluation phase was based on playgroup documentation, photographs, physical environment schedule, staff biographies, interviews, and child tracking data. The action plan phase allowed the staff to produce plans to improve areas of practice, while the development phase allowed for the implementation of this action plan. The reflection phase allowed time to review the impact of the action plan. A review of the four stages found that the staff were able to develop an effective action plan that led to real improvements in the quality of the children's education. The playgroup practitioners showed considerable development in their style of engagement and interaction with the children. The limitations and key issues uncovered by the research are also discussed. An appendix contains information on the observation rating scales used in the research and Chatterbox Playgroup vignette. (Contains 87 references.) (MDM)