The aim of the present study is to determine what teacher variables are predictive of preschool teacher self-efficacy in an urban school district. A total of 83 preschool teachers participated in the study. Teacher variables, such as years of teaching experience, job satisfaction, location of employment, age, and self-efficacy were included in a series of ANOVA analyses. Linear regression modeling reported years of teaching experience outside the birth-2nd grade setting (β=-.232, t(1,79) =-2.124, p< .05) and job satisfaction (β = .294, t(2,78) = 2.793, p< .01) were statistically significant predictors of preschool teacher self-efficacy. This study found that teachers with a greater amount of teaching experience outside of the birth-2nd setting feel less efficacious about themselves and their abilities to positively influence student achievement and outcomes in the preschool classroom. Further policy implications, such as hiring practices are discussed.

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This research study investigated the effects of preschool dosage on kindergarten readiness in an urban school district (n= 1,464). This study was guided by one research question: do children who attend two years of structured early childhood education programming (3-year-old and 4-year-old pre-k) demonstrate stronger academic skills than their peers who only attend one year of pre-k programming (4-year-old pre-k only)? Implementing univariate and multivariate logistic regression models, we found that children who attend two years of programming were 34% more likely to make a successful transition to kindergarten compared to their peers who only attended pre-k as 4-yearolds. Black students who attended two years experienced a greater benefit, with a 53% increased likelihood of being kindergarten-ready.Public funding for early childhood education (ECE) for 3and 4-year-old children in the United States has seen an increased amount of spending and resources provided for the enhancement of programming over the past decade (Friedman-Krauss et al., 2018). Previous research has shown that children attending high-quality early learning programs can improve school readiness in transitioning to kindergarten (Duncan & Magnuson, 2013;Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Recent proposals from the state level have initiated efforts to expand ECE to allow more children to enroll in full-day programming before transitioning to kindergarten (New York State Education Department [NYSED], 2020). These initiatives aim to serve not just more children but also younger children, addressing a need to provide quality ECE programming to children at-risk and those living in poverty (Jenkins et al., 2016). This expansion includes individual state increases in programming for 3-and 4-year-olds provided at the district level. The primary goal of these public preschool expansions is to ensure that more children living in poverty have access to high-quality ECE programming (Bassok et al., 2016).

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