Support of young children from disadvantaged families in Switzerland: mixed-method evaluation of the home visitation program Schritt:weise

Purpose Children from disadvantaged families often already show developmental deficits at the time of school entry. The goal of Schritt:weise, a preventive, easy-access early education program for children ages one to five is to avoid such deficits through a combination of home visits by semi-professionals as well as center-based group activities. The program has been translated and adapted from the Dutch program Opstapje and is now being implemented in different regions in Switzerland. To offer the program more readily in rural areas, four adapted models were developed. This paper aims to provide a mixed-method, combined process and outcome evaluation of these newly developed models. Design/methodology/approach For this combined process and outcome evaluation, standardized testing for child development outcomes and interviews with different stakeholders were conducted. Findings The evaluation found that implementation of all four models was feasible and children developed along the norm in all four of the models. This finding was confirmed one year after program completion. Research limitations/implications Building an evidence-base to better understand success of early intervention programs is key to effectively supporting children from disadvantaged families in their development. Practical implications This early education program using home-visitation with semi-professionals is feasible and successful in reaching children from disadvantaged families. Social implications It is possible to support children from disadvantaged families through the program Schritt:weise and prevent developmental deficits at school entry. Originality/value The finding that children developed along the norm in all four models means that the key program goal was achieved and that the specific implementation model can be chosen based on the specifics of the implementation context.