Catherine Scott-Little

A Course on Effective Teacher-Child Interactions: Effects on Teacher Beliefs, Knowledge, and Observed Practice

Among 440 early childhood teachers, half were randomly assigned to take a 14-week course on effective teacher-child interactions. This course used the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) as the basis to organize, describe, and demonstrate effective teacher-child interactions. Compared to teachers in a control condition, those exposed to the course reported more intentional teaching beliefs and demonstrated greater knowledge of and skills in detecting effective interactions. Furthermore, teachers who took the course were observed to demonstrate more effective emotional and instructional interactions. The course was equally effective across teachers with less than an associate’s degree as well as those with advanced degrees. Results have implications for efforts to improve the quality of early childhood programs through the higher education system.

Education Level and Stability As It Relates to Early Childhood Classroom Quality: A Survey of Early Childhood Program Directors and Teachers

Abstract The field of early care and education is continually seeking to determine factors that contribute to the overall quality of the education for young children. Individual characteristics of teachers, including education level, have been associated with classroom quality. Program demographics, including turnover rate for teachers, also have had varying associations with levels of quality. The current study used data from teachers and directors participating in the North Carolina Rated License process to explore relationships between education levels for teachers and directors with levels of classroom quality, and between stability of position for teachers and classroom quality scores. Teacher education level and stability (i.e., consistently working with the same age group) were positively related to classroom quality scores. Higher education levels for center directors and center director enrollment in a college course also were associated with higher quality scores for their programs. Results suggest that, in addition to teacher education, other factors within child care centers are critical to the quality of care that teachers provide.

Implementing an Early Childhood Professional Development Course Across 10 Sites and 15 Sections: Lessons Learned

In this article we describe the design and implementation of the National Center for Research on Early Childhood Educations (NCRECEs) college-level course and its delivery to teachers across 10 settings and 15 instructional sections. This professional development intervention, found effective in changing teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, and actual classroom practices (Hamre, et al., in press), has the potential to be scalable through existing delivery systems for teacher preparation (i.e., higher education) and may also address a critical gap created by policies requiring early childhood educators to earn a college degree. Specifically, we describe challenges associated with conducting an experiment of this kind, strategies and supports necessary to implement the NCRECE course well across multiple settings, and evidence regarding course instructors’ implementation of the course as intended.

Assessing Beliefs of Preservice Early Childhood Education Teachers Using Q-Sort Methodology

The purpose of this study was to assess the beliefs of students and faculty in a 4-year birth–kindergarten teacher preparation program using the Teacher Belief Q-Sort (TBQ). Data were collected over one academic year from a total of 63 students, 35 students at the beginning of their coursework and 28 students at the end of their program, completing their student teaching experience. The faculty (n = 8) in the program completed the TBQ to provide a criterion sort as well as to assess the consistency in philosophy across faculty members who teach preservice teachers. Compilations of rankings are presented to describe beliefs related to children, discipline, and teaching practices held by students who are at different points in their education program. Criterion comparison results indicate that student teachers at the end of their education program report beliefs more similar to faculty beliefs than students at the beginning of their education program. However, findings suggest that the student teaching experience does not appear to significantly alter beliefs about children, discipline and teaching practices. These results are discussed in terms of child-directed versus teacher-directed styles of preservice teachers and implications of assessing beliefs for teacher preparation programs.

Examining Differences in Students’ Beliefs and Attitudes: An Important Element of Performance-Based Assessment Systems for Teacher Preparation Programs

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) program review process increasingly emphasizes the importance of performance-based assessment of early childhood teacher preparation programs. As part of the effort to address performance-based assessment requirements, the teacher educator program described in this study examined students’ beliefs related to developmentally appropriate practice, attitudes toward children, and perceived competencies at different points in the program and upon graduation. One hundred eighteen students and 78 recent graduates participated. Results suggest that students’ beliefs are more consistent with developmentally appropriate practices and with a progressive or child-centered approach at later points in the program. In general, participants felt they were more competent in what they know about early childhood practices than in how they implement the practices. Students nearing completion of the program and those who had graduated reported that they knew more about early childhood practices than students enrolled in early courses in the program, and graduates felt they were more competent to implement early childhood practices than students not enrolled in the program. Results are discussed in terms of implications for examining teacher preparation programs.

Student Teaching Feedback and Evaluation: Results From a Seven-State Survey

Recent surveys have provided some guidance and recommendations for the student teaching component in early childhood teacher preparation, but specific information on the focus of supervision and evaluation of student teachers is limited. The current study surveyed 128 early childhood programs in 2- and 4-year institutions of higher education across seven states. The study collected data in areas such as which students receive feedback, how students are supervised and evaluated, and what types of assessment tools contribute to the evaluation. Results indicate that across 2- and 4-year institutions, language and literacy are a strong focus of feedback for student teachers, as well as child development, planning, and adult–child interactions. Student teachers are typically supervised through on-site visits that range in number and length fairly dramatically across 2- and 4-year institutions. Finally, the use of specific tools for evaluation varies across programs; about a quarter of programs surveyed use a published tool to evaluate student teachers. The majority of programs use an evaluation tool that is based on local, state, or national standards. Findings are discussed in terms of early childhood teacher preparation programs and the continuing discussions of recommendations for student teaching.

Team Teaching in an Early Childhood Interdisciplinary Program: A Decade of Lessons Learned

Preparing students in the early childhood field to work with children both with and without disabilities and to collaborate with different professionals is an important endeavor for colleges and universities. The purpose of this paper is to articulate a unique model of program collaboration between early childhood special education and early childhood regular education that demonstrates a cohesive preservice teacher education program across two departments within one university. This unique 10-year history of interdisciplinary collaboration and team teaching provides insights into many of the benefits and challenges of this type of program. This paper presents an historical overview of the development of this collaborative program and describes the logistics of operating an interdisciplinary program at the administrative level. Information collected from faculty and students illustrates the benefits and challenges of team teaching. Finally, strategies for developing a successful program are discussed.

Early Childhood Professional Development: Coaching and Coursework Effects on Indicators of Children’s School Readiness

ABSTRACT Research Findings Effects on children’s school readiness were evaluated for 2 interventions focused on improving teacher–student interactions (coursework, coaching) implemented sequentially across 2 years. Teachers from public prekindergarten programs in 10 locations were assigned randomly to treatment or control conditions in each year. Children’s language behavior was observed during the coaching year: Coaching and the course each had positive impacts on children’s multiword language behavior. Treatment impacts on directly assessed literacy, language, and self-regulation skills were evaluated within an intent-to-treat framework for children taught by the participating teachers in the coaching and postcoaching years. Children demonstrated higher levels of inhibitory control in direct assessments when their teacher had received coaching the prior year. Teachers who received both coursework and coaching reported in the postcoaching year that children in their classrooms demonstrated greater levels of behavioral control. Treatment effects did not differ as a consequence of child, classroom, or program characteristics, and there were no significant effects on directly assessed literacy or language skills. Practice or Policy: Results suggest modest benefits for children’s language behavior and self-regulation for intervention(s) that improve the quality of teacher–child interaction.

New understandings of cultural diversity and the implications for early childhood policy, pedagogy, and practice

ABSTRACT Theoretical and empirical research is challenging long-held assumptions about how culture shapes children’s thinking, emotions, and actions. No longer is ‘culture’ thought to be a family-based characteristic that operates upon children’s development in predictable ways. Instead, culture is considered inseparable from the developmental process, in which children use cultural artefacts from multiple contexts to make sense of experience, and modify the cultural artefacts they employ. This dynamic model of individual variation, which defies broad or stable categorizations, poses a significant challenge to policy-makers and practitioners who seek a systematic approach to quality in early childhood education (ECE) programs. The ‘food, fashions, and festivals’ approach to cultural diversity in preschool classrooms is insufficient when learning is understood to be a cultural process that varies across time and place. Findings from a multi-disciplinary review of literature on culture and development are presented and implications for ECE pedagogy, practice, and policy are discussed.

Developing the BIO Questionnaire: A Bilingual Parent Report Tool for Prekindergarten English Learners of Latino Heritage

With the increasing number of preschool-age children of Latino heritage entering U.S. schools comes a growing need to accurately determine childrens individual needs and identify potential disabilities, beginning with the screening process. Unfortunately, teachers face many challenges when screening English language learners. Often, parents have important information that can contribute to teachers’ understanding of childrens development, but there are limited tools available to collect information from parents. The Formulario Familiar Bilingue de Información Formulario y Observación/Family Bilingual Information & Observation (BIO) Questionnaire is a new parent report tool that can be used to collect information from parents of Latino heritage concerning their childs language development history, current language usage, and exposure to Spanish and English. A multiphase research study was conducted to collect formative data and to establish construct validity for the questionnaire. Results from a focus group, pilot study, and face validity review provided numerous suggestions to improve the tool, and established that the BIO is a viable means to collect parent perspectives on their own childrens language development.