Teachers' education, classroom quality, and young children's academic skills: results from seven studies of preschool programs

In an effort to provide high-quality preschool education, policymakers are increasingly requiring public preschool teachers to have at least a Bachelor's degree, preferably in early childhood education. Seven major studies of early care and education were used to predict classroom quality and children's academic outcomes from the educational attainment and major of teachers of 4-year-olds. The findings indicate largely null or contradictory associations, indicating that policies focused solely on increasing teachers' education will not suffice for improving classroom quality or maximizing children's academic gains. Instead, raising the effectiveness of early childhood education likely will require a broad range of professional development activities and supports targeted toward teachers' interactions with children.     

Quality in Kindergarten Classrooms: Observational Evidence for the Need to Increase Children's Learning Opportunities in Early Education Classrooms

Research Findings: Using observational data gathered in 730 kindergarten classrooms in 6 states, the present study focuses on the quality of children's learning opportunities in kindergarten classrooms. Findings show that overall, children experience moderate to low levels of quality in the areas of classroom organization and instructional support in kindergarten. Results are also presented in comparison to children's experiences in the pre-kindergarten year. These comparisons indicate that kindergarten children spend a greater proportion of the school day in language arts, math, and whole-group instruction and less time in centers than they do in pre-kindergarten. An examination of predictors of kindergarten classroom quality indicated that program characteristics (i.e., adult–child ratio, length of school day) and teacher psychological variables (i.e., beliefs and depressive symptoms) were stronger predictors of classroom quality than were teacher experience and educational background. Practice or Policy: Findings are discussed in terms of implications for children's academic and social development in kindergarten as well as for kindergarten teacher preparation and development.     

Fostering Supportive Teacher–Child Relationships: Intervention Implementation in a State-Funded Preschool Program

Research Findings: Banking Time is a set of techniques designed to promote positive, supportive relationships through 1-on-1 interactions between teachers and children. Web-based training resources were made available to 252 preschool teachers who received different levels of support as a component of a professional development intervention, and the purpose of this study was to examine teachers' implementation of Banking Time. Teachers with greater levels of professional development support were more likely to implement Banking Time with children in their classes. Teachers were more likely to choose to implement Banking Time with children who had lower social-emotional skills (e.g., more problem behaviors). Teachers developed greater relational closeness with children who participated in Banking Time than with children who did not participate. Practice or Policy: The implications of these preliminary findings for fostering supportive teacher–child relationships are discussed.     

Pre-kindergarten teachers’ use of transition practices and children's adjustment to kindergarten

This study describes pre-kindergarten teachers’ use of kindergarten transition practices and examined the extent to which these practices were associated with kindergarten teachers’ judgments of children's social, self-regulatory, and academic skills upon their entry into kindergarten. Participants were 722 children from 214 pre-kindergarten classrooms participating in the National Center for Early Development and Learning's (NCEDL) Multi-State Pre-kindergarten Study. Of nine transition practices intended to promote children's adaptation to kindergarten, pre-kindergarten teachers reported implementing, on average, six transition practices, with notable variation across pre-kindergarten classrooms. Children were judged by their kindergarten teachers to have more positive social competencies and fewer problem behaviors when they attended pre-kindergarten classrooms in which more transition activities were implemented and, specifically, in which teachers discussed curricula or specific children with kindergarten teachers. In addition, positive associations between kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of children's social competence and pre-kindergarten transition activities (total number of activities and activities that children experience directly) were stronger for children who experienced social and economic risks. Implications of these findings related to alignment across the pre-kindergarten to kindergarten settings to improve children's school readiness are discussed.     

Coaching Teachers to Improve Students’ School Readiness Skills: Indirect Effects of Teacher–Student Interaction

This study examined indirect associations of MyTeachingPartner coaching with pre-K students’ (N = 1,570; 73% low income) school readiness, via improvements of teachers’ (N = 393; 47% Black; 41% Head Start) classroom interactions. Data were collected across 2008–2009 and 2009–2010 in 10 urban sites across the eastern United States. The number of completed coaching cycles was examined as a predictor of teacher–student interactions, as were direct or indirect associations with students’ literacy, receptive language, and working memory skills. Significant findings indicated that teachers engaged in more feedback cycles showed greater improvements in instructional interactions, in turn predicting greater increases in students’ early literacy and working memory. Results confirm the theory of change for coaching and an ecological-developmental conceptualization of school readiness.     

Teacher engagement in core components of an effective,early childhood professional development course: Links to changes in teacher–child interactions

This study built on prior research regarding the effectiveness of the National Center for Research in Early Childhood Education (NCRECE) course by exploring the individual course components. Core aspects of course engagement and performance were described and examined in relation to improvements in the observed quality of teacher–child interactions. Teacher characteristics were also examined as predictors of course engagement and performance. A sample of 150 preschool teachers participated in a semester-long, credit-bearing, college course designed to improve the quality of their emotional, organizational, and instructional interactions with children. Teachers’ participation and performance in the course were high on average. Teachers’ skill level in accurately and specifically explaining other teachers’ instances of effective teacher–child interactions was related to improvements in their own observed teacher–child interactions. Finally, teachers with an early childhood major and those endorsing child-centered beliefs displayed better skills in detecting other teachers’ high-quality interactions with children. Results are discussed in relation to designing more effective early childhood professional development programs.     

Classroom age composition and the early learning of preschoolers

Data from 1,407 preschoolers were used to examine the implications of classroom age composition for the early learning and development of 4-year-olds in classrooms with 3- and 5-year-olds also in attendance. Results suggest that a greater number of younger classmates did not detract from 4-year-olds’ language development, literacy performance, or inhibitory control, nor did having older peers consistently facilitate learning in these domains. However, 4-year-olds who entered school with low inhibitory control and print knowledge demonstrated greater gains in both domains when attending classrooms with more same-age or older classmates than when in classrooms with more younger peers. When taken together, these results suggest that classroom age composition, in prekindergarten programs serving mostly 4-year-olds, for the most part has little consequence except for those 4-year-olds entering school with lower skill levels in key domains, in which case having older peers is of benefit.     

Implementation fidelity of MyTeachingPartner literacy and language activities: Association with preschoolers’ language and literacy growth

There is surprisingly little empirical research examining issues of fidelity of implementation within the early childhood education literature. In the MyTeachingPartner project, 154 teachers were provided with materials to implement a supplemental classroom curriculum addressing six aspects of literacy and language development. The present study examines the degree of variability in three aspects of implementation fidelity – dosage, adherence, and quality of delivery – and whether these components of fidelity were associated with children's growth in language and literacy skills across the preschool year. Findings indicate that teachers reported using the curriculum fairly often (dosage) and that they were observed to generally follow curricular lesson plans (adherence). In contrast, the quality of delivery, defined as the use of evidence-based teacher–child interactions for teaching literacy and language, was much lower. Children in classrooms in which activities were observed to last for longer (dosage) and in which teachers exhibited higher quality of delivery of literacy lessons made significantly greater gains in early literacy skills across the preschool year. Also, teachers’ use of higher quality language interactions was associated with gains for children who did not speak English at home. Results have implications for teacher professional development and the supports provided to ensure that curricula are delivered most effectively.     

Adult-Child Relationship Processes and Early Schooling

This paper highlights the importance of social processes in early school outcomes. Child-adult relationships are a social context with particular salience for the development of a number of social and academic outcomes in early childhood. Research on both child-parent and child-teacher relationships is reviewed. Measurement technologies are described and conceptual perspectives based on dyadic systems models are advanced as heuristics for future research. Practice implications are drawn with respect to assessment of relationships and implications for conceptualization of early childhood outcomes.