Although the importance of phonological awareness has been discussed widely in the research literature, the concept is not well understood by many classroom teachers. In the study described here, we worked with groups of kindergarten and first-grade teachers (the experimental group) during a 2-week summer institute and throughout the school year. We shared with them research about learning disabilities and effective instruction, stressing the importance of explicit instruction in phonological and orthographic awareness. We followed the experimental group and a control group into their classrooms for a year, assessing teachers' classroom practices and their students' (n = 779) learning. The study yielded three major findings: We can deepen teachers' own knowledge of the role of phonological and orthographic information in literacy instruction; teachers can use that knowledge to change classroom practice; and changes in teacher knowledge and classroom practice can improve student learning.
There has been a great deal of discourse in the field of early care and education concerning the experiences, skills, competencies, and education level needed by early childhood teachers to ensure that quality teaching and learning take place in the early years. The purpose of this article is to describe an early childhood teacher preparation program developed by a Child and Family Development Department at a large, urban, state-funded university in the hopes that we can further the discourse on how the field can ensure quality teaching and learning in both ECE and university classrooms. We propose a conceptual model that is built around three key constructs: knowledge, reflection, and practice and describe our approach to preparing early childhood educators. Using qualitative data from student reflections and course syllabi and quantitative data on the experiences and perceptions of graduating seniors, we hope to present promising practices in early childhood teacher education and provide support for our contention that the quality of early childhood teacher education matters.
Research suggests that toddlers with regulation issues engage in significantly more media use than toddlers without regulation difficulties, and this may be due, in part, to parental strain associated with parenting a child who is difficult to regulate or soothe. The current study sought to determine if the observed relationship between parental strain and child media use in the context of regulation difficulties continues into the preschool years. Data from the 2016 (N = 6,976) and 2017 (N = 3,056) National Survey of Children's Health were used to test a structural equation model (SEM) examining the moderating effect of parenting strain on the relationship between child media use and child regulation after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES) and adverse childhood experiences. The SEM had reasonable model fit. The study did not find a moderating effect for parenting strain but did identify a small significant relationship between child media use and regulation after controlling for parenting strain and SES. Additionally, SES proved to be a strong moderator of regulation and child media use. These findings point to the possibility that the relationship between parental strain and child media use may be more directly related to perceived ability to calm their child identified in previous research rather than perception of child's difficulty. This study demonstrated that the negative link between child media use and regulation may persist into the preschool years. Limitations of the study include broad items used to assess time spent with media and limited depth of questions associated with regulation and parenting strain.
Given their key role in overall programme quality, it is critical to examine how early childhood programme centre directors in the United States perceive challenging behaviour. Participants completed a survey asking which behaviours they perceive to be most problematic, the number of children dismissed or expelled from the programme during the last year, and the most commonly used strategies for addressing challenging behaviours. Results point to several promising practices and highlight the variability in access to evidence‐based practices based on programme type. Areas that warrant more targeted professional development are discussed, and findings are situated within the larger early childhood context.
This study followed 16 principals in an urban district who were assigned leadership coaches for 6 months. Coaches were provided to principals who were of low-performing schools or new to the position. The study was part of a descriptive evaluation to examine (1) what principals and coaches actually did and (2) what impact the coaching experience had on principals’ beliefs and actions. The findings indicate that coaches and principals spent most of their time together visiting classrooms and discussing feedback and support for teachers. Most principals in the study indicated that the coaching experience had a positive impact.
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