Teacher Practices in Preschool Classrooms: Promoting Engaged Learners

Early childhood educators often describe classroom quality in terms that indicate we can "recognize it when we see it", but we have struggled to provide measures that capture some of the more subjective components of quality. A multi-level qualitative study was designed as an attempt to better understand and operationalize specific teacher practices occurring in high quality preschool classrooms. Focus group discussions with experienced classroom assessors were conducted to better understand specific attributes present in classrooms where children are engaged in the learning process and participate in classroom activities. Identified themes and constructs from the focus groups were supported by current literature and guided development of a preliminary tool used in classroom observations. Observations were used to support use of some items on the tool, provide needed revisions to language, and to identify additional important contributors to children's engagement. Findings from the classroom observations indicated a low occurrence of many items on the tool, as well as the continued need to provide measurement strategies and tools that capture important contextual factors and unique characteristics existing in classrooms

Emergent Curriculum and Kindergarten Readiness

This article describes the curriculum activities in one child-centered, developmentally appropriate child care facility preschool classroom. In particular, it explains how activities are selected according to children's needs, interests, and abilities, and how the activities address the core competencies mandated by the public school system in kindergarten. This emergent or "grassroots" curriculum (Cassidy & Lancaster, 1993; Cassidy & Myers, 1987) is based on specific observations made of individual and small groups of preschool children. Teachers in this classroom of 3- to 5-year-olds use daily planning to respond to observed behaviors, and then facilitate learning and development for each individual child. Since this child care facility is located in the state of North Carolina, the authors delineate which competencies from the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Kindergarten (North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction) are addressed through the activities

Measurement of quality in preschool child care classrooms: An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the early childhood environment rating scale-revised

The purpose of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) with a large sample (1313 classrooms). We explored both the seven subscales and the possibility of fewer distinct aspects of quality being measured by the scale. The large sample size allowed both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to be performed. The results showed two distinct factors, Activities/Materials (nine items) and Language/Interaction (seven items), which accounted for 69% of the variance. High internal consistency scores, a moderate correlation between the factor-based scales, and a strong correlation between the combined factor-based scales and the overall ECERS-R score suggested these were distinct factors that could serve as a proxy for the larger scale. Structural aspects of quality and teacher education were examined in relation to the new factor-based scales and the overall score. Implications for practitioners and future research suggestions are provide

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

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