Joanna K. Lower

The Day-to-Day Reality of Teacher Turnover in Preschool Classrooms: An Analysis of Classroom Context and Teacher, Director, and Parent Perspectives

The purpose of the current study is to examine teacher turnover comprehensively by triangulating the experiences of teachers, directors, parents, and children through actual, “real-time” turnover transitions. We intentionally examined turnover with a small sample size (N = 13 classrooms) to facilitate comprehensive data collection utilizing multiple qualitative and quantitative measures and to gain a rich understanding of the implications of teacher turnover on classroom quality, staff, and the parents and children with whom they work. The study utilized an interpretive paradigm to illuminate and juxtapose the experiences of teachers, directors, parents, and children through the turnover transition—as teachers departed and their replacements began. Strategies used to respond to turnover were identified at the program and classroom levels. Implications for early childhood classroom quality and policy are discussed.

Quality in Inclusive and Noninclusive Infant and Toddler Classrooms

Abstract The quality of care in infant and toddler classrooms as compared across inclusive (n=64) and noninclusive classrooms (n=400). Quality was measured using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ITERS-R). An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis revealed four distinct dimensions of quality within the ITERS-R. Inclusive classrooms were higher in quality on the overall scale as well as on three of the four factor-based scales. Teachers reported, on average, that children had mild to moderate disabilities. Correlational analyses indicated that neither having more children with disabilities nor having children with more severe disabilities was associated with higher or lower quality scores. Teacher education and teacher-child ratios were important predictors of quality. Information on low-scoring items on the Personal Care Routines subscale is also presented.

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.

Child Care Work Environments: the Relationship with Learning Environments

Abstract The study explores the relationship between child care program administration, organizational climate, and global quality. The recently developed Program Administration Scale (PAS; Talan & Bloom, 2004) was utilized in the study. Both program administration and organizational climate were found to be positively correlated with preschool classroom global quality. There was also a significant relationship between organizational climate and a language/interaction factor of the ECERS-R. The level of education of the director was related to higher quality administrative practices and not-for-profit centers scored significantly better than for-profit centers did on the PAS. Additionally, a statistically significant relationship between the PAS and the Parents and Staff Subscale of the ITERS-R and ECERS-R was found.

Teacher Ethnicity and Variation in Context: The Implications for Classroom Quality

Research Findings: The current study examined the differences in global quality between classrooms with African American teachers and European American teachers. The study included 1,687 classrooms (802 with African American teachers and 885 with European American teachers). Initial analyses revealed significant differences in overall global quality as well as on 2 factor scores: Language/Interactions and Activities/Materials. However, when an analysis of covariance was conducted controlling for numerous structural variables (i.e., level of education, years of experience in early childhood, total number of teachers in the classroom, teacher–child ratio, proportion of children on subsidy, proportion of African American children in the class, and ethnicity of the observer), no differences by race were found. Practice or Policy: Findings are discussed with regard to the contextual constraints experienced by African American teachers in preschool classrooms to create high-quality learning environments. Policy implications of classroom inequities by racial/ethnic background are examined.

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.

weaving transnational feminist(s) methodologies (re)examining early childhood linguistic diversity teacher training and research

The purpose of this article is to engender a space where a variety of critical feminist(s) lenses are interwoven to problematize current discursive practices in linguistic diversity training and to (re)imagine nueavas posibilidades for linguistic diversity research/training for pre-kindergarten teachers. Transnational feminists’ projects have the potential to illuminate and connect larger global issues with, and that pertain to, local and specific radical projects by incorporating critical reflexive methodological tools. In this article we propose to a) discuss language as a monocultural construction that limits conceptions of language and learning for younger human beings; b) examine the discursive practices of teachers of students who are English as second/third language learners; c) discuss the discourse of sharing codes of power; and finally d) scrutinize interventionist assumptions of educational research.

Teacher work environments are toddler learning environments: teacher professional well-being, classroom emotional support, and toddlers’ emotional expressions and behaviours

ABSTRACT The current study examines the professional well-being of teachers, the classroom emotional support, and the emotional experiences of toddlers in their care. Professional well-being of teachers is conceptualized to include teacher feelings about their work, autonomy in decision-making, actual wages, and perceptions of fairness of wages within the programme as well as within the early childhood profession at large. The study empirically supports relationships among teacher professional well-being, classroom emotional support, and the emotional expressions and behaviours of toddlers. Early childhood policy implications regarding teacher professional well-being and toddler classroom emotional environments are discussed.