Amber Simpson

Examining the Effects of Preschool Writing Instruction on Emergent Literacy Skills: A Systematic Review of the Literature

This article presents the results of a systematic review of the literature involving writing interventions in the preschool setting. The information presented is timely considering the current expectations for young children to write. Framing the empirical literature within different philosophical approaches, trends were analyzed to identify instructional strategies related to increases in emergent literacy outcomes and where gaps in the literature existed. The results from 22 intervention conditions from 1990 to 2013 indicated the overall effect size was g = .44, 95% CIs [.27, .60], suggesting that preschool writing interventions enhanced children’s early literacy outcomes. The findings also highlighted the importance of quality literacy environments and adult involvement. The findings from this article have important instructional implications for writing instruction in the preschool setting.

A mixed-methods investigation of early childhood professional development for providers and recipients in the United States

This multi-phase mixed-methods study explores provider and recipient perceptions of the current state of early childhood professional development in a southeastern area of the United States. Professional development for the early childhood workforce has been shown to positively influence the quality of early childhood classrooms. This study examines 320 providers and 1022 recipients (including childcare teachers, Head Start teachers and 4k teachers in public school districts) who completed surveys examining the types of professional development opportunities they experienced over the previous year. Findings from these surveys were used to determine a subsample of providers (n = 20) and recipients (n = 27) who were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of these experiences. Findings from this study indicate overall dissatisfaction with the quality and purpose of current professional development opportunities. Participants describe a lack of access to high-quality experiences and suggest that professional development requirements should be restructured to be based on recipient needs rather than focus on a prescribed set of topics. In addition, data suggest that follow-up support or evaluation of professional development experiences rarely occurs in these settings. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Preservice Elementary Mathematics Teachers’ Emerging Ability to Write Problems to Build on Children’s Mathematics

It has become increasingly important for mathematics teacher educators to assist elementary preservice teachers (PSTs) in leveraging the knowledge of children’s learning of mathematics during instruction. Professional noticing (Jacobs et al. J Res Math Educ 41(2):169–202, 2010) involves the interrelated skills of attending, interpreting, and responding to children’s mathematics. Responding with problems that build on children’s mathematical thinking is a skill that is both difficult to learn and a critical practice in teaching elementary mathematics. We present our analyses of PSTs’ responses to a sequence of three increasingly complex methods course activities designed to scaffold PSTs’ engagement in professional noticing, and to develop their abilities to write problems that build on children’s mathematics. Supported by our series of activities, PSTs demonstrated a strong foundation in attending to and interpreting children’s mathematics. In comparison, however, these experiences did not result in comparable gains in responding to the children’s mathematical thinking, a result with implications for mathematics education.

A Phenomenological Study of Middle Grade Female and Male Students’ Single-Sex Mathematical Experiences

Abstract Utilizing a descriptive phenomenological design, this study examines the lived experiences of seven middle grade students, four females and three males, enrolled in a single-sex mathematics classroom within a coeducational school setting. The intent of the study is to understand, from students themselves, about the experience of single-sex mathematics classrooms in public schools. The findings reveal that, as a whole, participants do not foreground their experience within the academic discipline under study (mathematics), but rather almost exclusively discuss social aspects of their classroom experience. One contrast between the girls and boys in this study is that girls spoke more positively about their experience in a single-sex mathematics class than boys.