Predicting First Graders’ Social Competence from Their Preschool Classroom Interpersonal Context

Research Findings: This study investigates contributions of the preschool classroom interpersonal environment to students’ social competence in 1st grade. Participants were 862 ethnically/racially diverse children who attended public preschool classrooms serving low-income families. Systematic observations of 60 classrooms occurred across the preschool year and quantified teacher and student behaviors. Preschool and 1st-grade teachers provided reports of children’s social behavior. First-grade teachers also assessed children’s problem behaviors. Multilevel analyses indicated that at the end of 1st grade, students who experienced preschool settings with teachers who displayed more approving behavior, less disapproving behavior, and more positive emotional tone showed significant gains in positive social behavior and lower rates of problem behavior, even after students’ social skills at preschool entry were controlled. Greater gains in positive social behavior and fewer problem behaviors in 1st grade were also predicted by immersion in preschool classrooms that had more positive and cooperative interactions among peers. Practice or Policy: Universal preschool is a policy under consideration nationally and locally, with social competence often listed as an important goal. This study indicates that even in the absence of a particular social-emotional curriculum, preschool teachers’ behaviors and interactions among their students may have lasting implications for children’s social development.     

Teacher Stress Predicts Child Executive Function: Moderation by School Poverty

Research Findings: Recent research has explored relations between classroom quality and child executive function (EF), but little is known about how teachers’ well-being, including stress, relates to child EF—a crucial component of self-regulation. We hypothesized that teacher stress is negatively or curvilinearly related to child EF and classroom quality may be one mechanism explaining this relation. Furthermore, as working with young, low-income children may be particularly stressful, we tested the extent to which the relation between teacher stress and child EF varies by school-level poverty. Two-level hierarchical linear models using a sample of 171 kindergarten children and 33 teachers revealed a marginally significant linear relation between teacher stress and child EF (spring) controlling for baseline child EF (fall); there was no evidence for mediation by classroom quality. School-level poverty moderated the relation between teacher stress and child EF: Children attending low-poverty schools demonstrated smaller gains in EF when their teachers reported higher stress levels. However, in high-poverty schools high levels of teacher stress were not a risk factor for child EF. Practice or Policy: These novel findings are a first step to understanding how teachers’ well-being relates to child EF across schools and have implications for supporting teachers.     

The Role of Teacher Efficacy in Strengthening Classroom Support for Preschool Children with Disabilities Who Exhibit Challenging Behaviors

Challenging student behaviors are a prominent factor in the development of teacher stress and burnout. When classroom-based teachers of preschool children with disabilities were surveyed to identify their training needs in one North Carolina county, the most frequent request was how to address behavior challenges of preschool children with disabilities. This study examined how instructional support to teachers of preschool children with disabilities and challenging behaviors affected three teachers’ classroom practices. The teachers received training and mentoring in classroom behavior management strategies and engaged in an online community of learners discussion group. Interviews and interactions from an online learning community were used to disclose whether the participants had implemented effective intervention strategies in their classrooms following the training. Teachers felt more competent in managing challenging behaviors after the online interaction with their colleagues. Teachers’ online interactions were a highly effective way to impact teacher efficacy. Therefore, special education preschool programs should consider providing more opportunities for the teachers to build their own learning communities to interact and support one another.     

Attitudes and Beliefs of Prekindergarten Teachers Toward Teaching Science to Young Children

This study explored infield prekindergarten teachers’ attitudes and beliefs toward teaching science to young children. In addition, prekindergarten teachers’ previous and future interests in science-related professional development were assessed. Data were collected through a self-report measure, the preschool teacher attitudes and beliefs toward science. The sample consisted of 112 prekindergarten teachers. Findings suggest prekindergarten teachers may be more comfortable with conducting and integrating science activities and understanding the benefits of science for young children’s global development than previously thought. However, teachers continue to indicate feelings of inadequacy and anxiety toward their own science knowledge and ability to support children’s scientific learning. Future research should examine additional methods of assessing science teaching in prekindergarten classrooms, such as direct observation, as well as the impact of professional development on attitudes, beliefs, and practices of prekindergarten teachers when teaching science.     

Temperament and Teacher–Child Conflict in Preschool: The Moderating Roles of Classroom Instructional and Emotional Support

Research Findings: This study is an examination of (a) links between preschool children’s temperament (effortful control, shyness, and anger) and teacher–child conflict and (b) classroom instructional and emotional support as moderators of associations between temperament and teacher–child conflict. Children (N = 104) were enrolled in 23 classrooms in 9 preschools in a midwestern city. Teachers provided ratings of children’s temperament and parents reported demographic information in the fall of the school year, classrooms were observed in the winter to assess instructional and emotional support, and teachers rated conflict with children in the spring. Multilevel models were estimated, and 3 main findings emerged. First, children’s effortful control was negatively associated with their level of conflict with teachers. Second, children’s effortful control was negatively related to teacher–child conflict in classrooms with low emotional support but unrelated to conflict in classrooms with high emotional support. Third, children’s effortful control was negatively related to conflict in classrooms with high instructional support but unrelated to conflict in classrooms with low instructional support. Practice or Policy: Findings highlight the importance of considering the interplay of children’s effortful control and preschool classroom instructional and emotional support in the development of early teacher–child conflict.     

Teachers’ Literal and Inferential Talk in Early Childhood and Special Education Classrooms

Research Findings: This study examined preschool teachers’ literal talk (LT) and inferential talk (IT) during shared book readings in early childhood education (ECE) and early childhood special education (ECSE) classrooms. We aimed to characterize and compare teachers’ LT and IT in these 2 classroom contexts and determine whether differences in LT and IT are predicted by classroom type, teachers’ educational background, or children’s average language skills. We examined the shared book reading activities of 52 teachers (26 ECE classrooms, 26 ECSE classrooms). Results revealed that ECSE teachers used significantly more LT and showed more variability in their LT and IT than ECE teachers. ECSE classroom type predicted teachers’ use of LT when we controlled for teacher education and children’s language skills, whereas teacher education predicted teachers’ use of IT when we controlled for classroom type and children’s language skills. Practice or Policy: These findings have implications for best practice guidelines and policies, particularly for ECSE environments.     

Promoting children’s participation: the role of teachers in preschool and primary school learning sessions

The aim of this study is to provide insights into the social construction of participation in joint activities in Finnish preschool and primary school classrooms. The article deals with two issues: How do teachers promote participation in a preschool classroom as compared with a primary school classroom? What similarities and differences are found? It also considers the question of how the similarities contribute to the continuity from preschool to primary school in terms of participation. Based on observation data insights are provided into the interactions between teachers and children by using extracts from teacher‐led learning sessions. The teachers used a diversity of strategies to promote participation in both contexts. In the preschool the focus was on participation and interaction as such, whereas in the primary school the emphasis was more clearly on academic learning. The findings suggest that teacher support of active participation and friendly relationships, together with creative and playful activities in the preschool, enrich children’s curiosity, and nourish children’s motivation for and interests in academic learning.     

Distinctions Without a Difference? Preschool Curricula and Children’s Development

Abstract

Public preschool programs require the use of a research-based, whole-child curriculum, yet limited research examines whether curricula influence classroom experiences and children’s development. We use five samples of preschool children to examine differences in classroom processes and children’s school readiness by classroom curricular status (curriculum/no curriculum), and across classrooms using different curricular packages. When a teacher reports using a curriculum, their classroom processes are indistinguishable from classrooms where teachers report using no curriculum. Some differences in classroom activities emerged across classrooms using different curricula; however, substantial variability exists across classrooms using the same curriculum. Head Start program fixed effects models and meta-analytic regressions reveal few associations between curricula and children's skills. Findings question whether preschool curricular policy benefit child development.     

Foundations of Science Literacy: Efficacy of a Preschool Professional Development Program in Science on Classroom Instruction,Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge,and Children’s Observations and Predictions

Young children are able to benefit from early science teaching but many preschool teachers have not had opportunities to deepen their own understanding of science or to develop their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in relation to specific science topics and concepts. This study presents the results of efficacy research on Foundations of Science Literacy (FSL), a comprehensive professional development program designed to support teachers’ knowledge of early childhood science; their PCK around 2 physical science topics (water, and balls and ramps); and their abilities to plan, facilitate, and assess young children’s learning during inquiry-based science explorations. Research Findings: In a randomized trial with 142 preschool teachers and 1,004 4-year-old children, FSL teachers demonstrated significantly higher quality science teaching in general and greater PCK in the 2 physical science topics than did teachers in comparison classrooms. Furthermore, children in FSL classrooms performed significantly better than children in comparison classrooms on tasks involving floating and sinking, and an instrumental variable analysis suggests that the quality of classroom science instruction mediated the relationship between teacher participation in FSL and student outcomes. Practice or Policy: Findings support the use of comprehensive early science professional development programs designed to bolster teacher knowledge and PCK.     

Children’s academic and social-emotional competencies and the quality of classroom interactions in high-needs urban elementary schools

Teachers are often viewed as being primarily responsible for the quality of their classroom environment and teaching practices. Yet, the aggregate skills and competencies of children within classrooms may affect teachers’ ability to engage in emotionally and instructionally supportive interactions and maintain an organized classroom. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify common types of classrooms based on children’s academic and social-emotional competencies, and (2) examine the relation between classroom compositional profiles and the observed quality of classroom interactions across three domains, while accounting for the quality of interactions in teachers’ classrooms assessed during the prior school year. Participants included 117 third-grade teachers and their 1803 children from 53 urban public elementary schools, in the United States, composed of mostly Black and Latinx children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. Data were collected as part of a randomized-controlled trial of a social-emotional learning intervention and included assessments of children’s English language arts test scores, social competence, aggressive behaviors, depression, and anxiety, and the observed quality of classroom-level emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support. Latent profile analysis revealed three distinct profiles: (1) academically and behaviorally high-risk classrooms (9%), (2) academically and emotionally at-risk classrooms (48%), and (3) academically and behaviorally low-risk classrooms (43%). Classrooms in the high-risk profile had significantly lower levels of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support, while accounting for teachers’ prior year interactional quality and a set of key teacher and classroom demographic and compositional covariates. Implications for teacher accountability and school tracking practices within high-needs urban public schools are discussed.     

Emotional correspondence between preschoolers and teachers: what are the effects on child–teacher relationships?

ABSTRACT

The effects of the emotion regulation skills of the children attending preschool education on their interactions with their teachers are emphasised in recent studies. Therefore, in this study, we examined the effects of emotion regulation skills on the quality of the relationship between the teacher and the child. In total, 39 preschool teachers and 119 preschool children (55 girls and 64) boys from 5 public preschools participated in the study. Teachers were asked to fill Student-Teacher Relationship Scale-Short Form regarding three children in their classrooms and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for themselves. We conducted four observations by using MPAC-R/S in order to assess child’s abilities to express and regulate emotions. The results showed that children’s emotional states were effective on teacher’s relationship perception, and that teacher’s emotion regulation skills were also effective on his/her relationship perception. In addition, the cognitive reappraisal strategy used by the teacher in emotion regulation has also been found to have an impact on the negative emotional state of children.     

Exploring Teachers’ Depressive Symptoms,Interaction Quality,and Children’s Social-Emotional Development in Head Start

Research Findings: This study explored the role Head Start teachers’ (n = 355) depressive symptoms play in their interactions with children and in children’s (n = 2,203) social-emotional development, specifically changes in children’s problem behaviors and social skills as reported by parents and teachers during the preschool year. Results of the multilevel path analyses revealed that children in classrooms with more depressed teachers made significantly fewer gains in social-emotional skills as reported by both teachers and parents. We found no evidence of mediation by the quality of teacher–child interactions. Practice or Policy: These findings have implications for understanding and supporting Head Start teachers’ mental health and potentially improving children’s social-emotional outcomes.     

Teachers’ Literal and Inferential Questions and Children’s Responses: A Study of Teacher–Child Linguistic Interactions During Whole-Group Instruction in Hong Kong Kindergarten Classrooms

This study investigated the extent to which preschool teachers and children (ages 4–6) used literal and inferential language within the context of whole-group instruction in four kindergarten classrooms in Hong Kong. A total of 20 sessions of videotaped classroom observations of linguistic interactions between teachers and children were transcribed and then analyzed using a coding scheme to determine the cognitive complexity of teacher questions and child responses with reference to four levels of abstraction, representing a literal-to-inferential continuum. The results indicated that the teachers’ questions were predominantly literal in nature (83 %), and similarly the majority of the children’s responses (77 %) were also literal. Furthermore, it was revealed that in an average instructional session: (a) teachers produced significantly more utterances than children; (b) the difference in the quantity of teachers’ questions between literal and inferential levels was statistically significant; (c) similarly, the difference in the quantity of children’s responses between literal and inferential levels was also statistically significant; and (d) children produced a significantly larger quantity of shorter than longer utterances. As there is distinct value in whole-group instruction as a salient context for teacher–child interactive, linguistic engagement in kindergarten classrooms in Hong Kong, it is particularly vital that early childhood educators understand what types of linguistic interactions are occurring there and how to target professional development for teachers to better support language learning in young children.     

A Preliminary Evaluation of REACH: Training Early Childhood Teachers to Support Children’s Social and Emotional Development

This paper describes the development, implementation and preliminary evaluation of the Reaching Educators and Children (REACH) program, a training and coaching intervention designed to increase the capacity of early childhood teachers to support children’s social and emotional development. We evaluated REACH with 139 teachers of toddler and preschool classrooms. Teacher attendance and survey results suggest that teachers were highly satisfied with the training and materials. Data from classroom observation scales conducted pre- and post-REACH implementation suggest significant improvements in the sensitivity of teachers’ interactions with children in the classroom, and increased teacher use of targeted social and emotional supports (such as teaching children to resolve conflicts). Further, data from observations of children’s classroom behavior suggest increases in children’s prosocial behaviors and small but significant decreases in verbal aggression. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the REACH program may be effective in building teachers’ capacity to support social–emotional development of young children, and point to the need for additional research.     

Child Behavior Problems,Teacher Executive Functions,and Teacher Stress in Head Start Classrooms

Research Findings: The current article explores the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of child behavior problems and preschool teacher job stress, as well as the possibility that teachers’ executive functions moderate this relationship. Data came from 69 preschool teachers in 31 early childhood classrooms in 4 Head Start centers and were collected using Web-based surveys and Web-based direct assessment tasks. Multilevel models revealed that higher levels of teachers’ perceptions of child behavior problems were associated with higher levels of teacher job stress and that higher teacher executive function skills were related to lower job stress. However, findings did not yield evidence for teacher executive functions as a statistical moderator. Practice or Policy: Many early childhood teachers do not receive sufficient training for handling children's challenging behaviors. Child behavior problems increase a teacher's workload and consequently may contribute to feelings of stress. However, teachers’ executive function abilities may enable them to use effective, cognitive-based behavior management and instructional strategies during interactions with students, which may reduce stress. Providing teachers with training on managing challenging behaviors and enhancing executive functions may reduce their stress and facilitate their use of effective classroom practices, which is important for children's school readiness skills and teachers’ health.     

全纳教育视野下的幼儿教师培养

实施学前全纳教育是实现学前特殊儿童受教育权利的有力保障。学前全纳教育对幼儿教师提出了新的挑战,为了应对这个挑战,需要培养全纳型幼儿教师。结合我国幼儿教师教育现状,对全纳型幼儿教师的培养提出以下建议:改革职前教育体制,培养合格的全纳型幼儿教师;加强在职培训,促进全纳型幼儿教师的专业发展。     

Re-visiting transition-based teaching: Impact of pre-service teacher's implementation on child outcomes

Present study investigated impact of pre-service teachers’ implementation of a constant time delay procedure within the framework of transition-based teaching on teaching pre-academic skills to three preschool children with developmental delays during transitions in inclusive classrooms. A multiple probe design across behaviors replicated across three children was used. Results indicated pre-service teachers could implement transition-based teaching with very high fidelity following a brief training session; pre-service teachers’ implementation of transition-based teaching resulted in acquisition of pre-academic skills by all three participating children with developmental delays; children generalized the pre-academic skills they learned to other teachers, settings, and materials; and they maintained high levels of correct responding during the follow-up sessions. Moreover, pre-service and preschool teachers found transition-based teaching acceptable and effective. Directions for future research and practice are discussed.     

Authentically assessing graduate teaching: outside and beyond neo-liberal constructs

In this paper, we challenge the current focus on ‘best practice’, graduate teacher tests, and student test scores as the panacea for ensuring teaching quality and argue for ways of thinking about evidence of quality beginning teaching outside and beyond the current neoliberal accountability discourses circulating in Australia and other countries. We suggest that teacher educators need to reinsert themselves as key players in the debates around quality beginning teaching, rather than being viewed as a source of the problem. To enable teacher educators to assume accountability for quality beginning teachers, we propose the framework of a capstone teacher performance assessment—a structured portfolio called the Authentic Teacher Assessment (ATA)—and examine examples of these assessments through the lens of critical discourse analysis. As a measure of ‘readiness to teach’, the ATA is compared with supervising teachers’ assessments of preservice teachers. We argue that structured portfolios that include artefacts derived from preservice teachers’ practice in classrooms along with graduate teacher self assessments provide a stronger accountability measure of effective beginning teaching and demonstrably address the current anxiety regarding ‘evidence’. We suggest that such an approach should be reliable enough to be ‘read’ by external assessors (and moderated across other teacher education institutions). Rigorous research on a national basis is called for in order to develop and implement a structured portfolio as rich evidence of graduates’ quality and readiness to teach.     

Promoting Student–Teacher Interactions: Exploring a Peer Coaching Model for Teachers in a Preschool Setting

Peer coaching provides an attractive alternative to traditional professional development for promoting classroom quality in a sustainable, cost-effective manner by creating a collaborative teaching community. This exploratory study describes the development and evaluation of the Colleague Observation And CoacHing (COACH) program, a peer coaching program designed to increase teachers’ effectiveness in enhancing classroom quality in a preschool Head Start setting. The COACH program consists of a training workshop on coaching skills and student-teacher interactions, six peer coaching sessions, and three center meetings. Pre-post observations of emotional support, classroom organization, and instructional support using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System of twelve classrooms assigned to peer coaching were compared to twelve control classrooms at baseline and following the intervention. Findings provide preliminary support that the peer coaching program is perceived as acceptable and feasible by the participating preschool teachers and that it may strengthen student–teacher interactions. Further program refinement and evaluation with larger samples is needed to enhance student–teacher interactions and, ultimately, children’s adaptive development.     

‘Inclusion in Practice’: Programme Practices in Mainstream Preschool Classrooms and Associations with Context and Teacher Characteristics

This study observed the extent to which teachers supported the inclusion of children with disabilities into mainstream classrooms and involved monitoring 52 mainstream preschool settings in Greece. The association between programme quality, context and teacher characteristics was also tested. Findings showed that the quality of inclusion ranged from ‘low’ to ‘minimal’, with teachers more frequently implementing practices that only partially promoted participation for children with disabilities in academic and social classroom activities. The analysis also revealed that the quality of programming was not influenced by the model of special education provision, the group size, the number of children with disabilities, the training teachers had in special education or their teaching experience. The results are discussed both at a national and international level, revealing areas that need further examination into preschool inclusion quality.