Early Childhood Education Journal最新文献

Millions of young children attend childcare settings in the United States and the quality of these early childhood settings, such as the activities children engage in and how teachers interact with children, matter for children’s development. This study was designed to test the impacts of a tech-enabled observation and feedback system focused on quality practices in early childcare. A randomized trial of 46 childcare professionals using items from a new observational quality tool outlining specific EBP, Brief Early Childhood Quality Inventory (BEQI), in Nebraska, was conducted. Treatment and control groups were observed virtually for 90 min by trained observers and received results from their observations on a set of evidence-based practices (EBP), such as engaging children in conversations about feelings and reading books. Treatment group participants then engaged in goal setting for EBP and received text-based messages for 12 weeks, while control group members only received observation results. Results indicated that treatment group members were significantly more likely to increase EBP that were targeted for change over the course of 12 weeks, with 62% showing improvement on two or more target EBP, whereas only 21% of the control group showed improvement on two or more target EBP. 70% of treatment group members agreed that the program was beneficial for the children in their care, and 73% would recommend the program to another childcare professional. Providing feedback to educators based on a simple observational tool can help promote adoption of EBP in childcare settings, with positive effects of an intervention focused on goal setting and support for specific practices through text messaging.

Kindergarten readiness plays a very important role in children’s later school success. This study investigated factors associated with kindergarten readiness in early literacy skills, mathematical knowledge, and social foundations using a hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) approach. Assessment data of 617 kindergarteners (Aged 5) in 30 classrooms nested within 28 elementary schools in one state in the southeastern United States were analyzed. Participation in a kindergarten transition program, attendance in a Pre-K program, and family engagement were positively associated with children’s readiness in all three domains. Interaction effects between school-level factors (i.e., poverty, ranking) and child-level factors (i.e., Pre-K program attendance) on children’s performance in early literacy skills were identified. The findings can be used to inform the design and implementation of transition programs as well as policymaking in early education and development. We recommend that policymakers should consider targeting resources to rural, high-poverty, and underinvested communities to promote equitable access to high-quality programs that support children and their families.

This study provides the challenges and opportunities facing the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) workforce in the United States. Acknowledging the pivotal role of early educators in children’s development, the authors argue for comprehensive policy reforms to address economic and societal challenges faced by the ECCE workforce. Examining national best practices, offers a roadmap for enhancing the ECCE sector in the United States, emphasizing the need for improved compensation, professional development opportunities, and greater societal recognition of the ECCE workforce’s value. The discussion extends to the implications of these challenges for the quality of early childhood education and the well-being of educators, suggesting a future research agenda focused on evaluating the effects of proposed reforms and exploring innovative strategies to support the ECCE workforce. This forward-looking approach aims not only to improve the status and quality of early childhood education but also to ensure a brighter future for children through a more supported, recognized, and valued ECCE workforce.

The effect of public pre-kindergarten (pre-K) on the short-term outcomes of children from disadvantaged backgrounds is well established; however, the mechanisms for this effect are not well understood. Of the many factors that influence how pre-K participants progress during and after kindergarten, one understudied factor is the effect of pre-K participation on kindergarten attendance. The effects of absenteeism are cumulative, and habits established early in the school years are likely to affect later school outcomes. Thus, if pre-K improves kindergarten attendance, participants may be poised for later school success. To begin to test this hypothesis, we conducted a quasi-experimental study to examine the kindergarten readiness of 19,490 children and attendance records of 39,113 children who either were enrolled in Michigan’s Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) or were placed on waitlists because their GSRP sites were full. Using variants of multilevel modeling, we found, as expected, that GSRP children performed better than waitlisted children on the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment. Examination of kindergarten attendance records found that waitlisted children were more likely to be absent than their counterparts who participated in GSRP, with particularly strong effects for children who were Black, economically disadvantaged, or English Language Learners.

The importance of financial literacy has gained attention worldwide in the last few years. The National Financial Educators Council (2013) defines financial literacy “as possessing the skills and knowledge on financial matters to confidently take effective action that best fulfills an individual’s personal, family and global community goals.” Financial literacy is an essential 21st century global skill for everyone to have. This is a practical article that investigates the importance of financial literacy education in early childhood classrooms, with vignettes from various early childhood classrooms where teachers are teaching financial literacy concepts. The present paper will also bring to light the importance of being purposive and intentional in teaching financial literacy concepts in early childhood classrooms. The authors bring to light the importance of training the teachers to teach these concepts. They argue that when teachers are confident about the content, they not only feel good about teaching it, but they are also able to provide depth in their teaching as well. In addition, the authors also provide guidelines grounded in research on how to successfully be intentional and purposive in teaching financial literacy concepts in early childhood classrooms. Finally, this article presents a compilation of appropriate resources and strategies teachers can use to teach this important concept in their classroom and partner with the parents to continue teaching these concepts at home as well.

Early science inquiries and experiences increase young children’s awareness and interest for science. The importance of promoting science process skills which bolster children’s confidence to formulate and communicate personal ideas have been emphasised by international guidelines. As Loose Parts Play (LPP) is a form of free play involving open-ended play materials, its flexible nature promotes active exploration with materials that encourages children’s interaction with science-related experiences. This teacher action research aims to explore the influence of open-ended questions on children’s science process skills, as well as the scientific concepts that children are capable of exploring independently during play experiences. Analyses draw on video- and audio-recorded observation, child observation notes, and teacher journals. A total of 180 open-ended questions were employed by the teacher-researcher and 155 instances of science process skills were observed in a group of five-year-old children. Findings revealed that periods of uninterrupted play time followed by open-ended questions, extend children’s science process skills, and add complexity to their scientific exploration. Furthermore, children were observed to self-initiate exploration of scientific concepts, such as transforming materials and changing motion, during these uninterrupted play periods. Overall, this teacher action research highlights the pivotal role that educators play in young children’s playful learning experiences, where their timely use of open-ended questions has the capacity to facilitate children’s early science learning during LPP. This study serves to define an educator’s role within student-driven or child-initiated learning experiences, as well as guide educators in the utility of loose part materials, provision of uninterrupted play periods, and planning of open-ended questions to stimulate children’s science exploration.

ECEC educators play a vital role in educating and caring for children during the first five years of life, a critical period for learning, growth, and development. University-trained early childhood teachers make a particularly significant contribution to overall service quality. This exploratory interview study brings an ecological lens to the perspectives of nine Australian university-trained early childhood teachers on the nature and quantity of their work and workload. As part of the mixed methods Early Learning Work Matters project, this Phase II interview study supports findings from the prior international systematic review that work in ECEC is complex and demanding. Interviews yielded new findings indicating the potential changing nature of early childhood teachers’ work, some of whom reported little to no capacity to focus on service quality. Concerningly, analysis revealed burdensome influences at all ecological levels, with only a few uplifting microsystems which were inconsistently experienced by participants.

With the increase of computational thinking (CT) tools in education, there are questions as to whether and how CT might support and/or hinder algebraic thinking of young children. Utilizing seeds of algebraic thinking, we add to this scholarly discussion by presenting examples from a CT activity with four-year old children in which we illustrate how young children are engaged in early algebraic thinking. More specifically, we highlight children’s pre-instructional engagement with replacement, a precursor to the concept of variable. The included examples add to our limited scholarship regarding young children’s (i.e., ages 3 to 5 years) early development of algebraic thinking of replacement through an unplugged activity that can be implemented within multiple learning environments within children’s larger STEM ecosystem.

Questioning the common practice of treating texts as property that can be stolen and instead exploring the social and rhetorical dimensions that define what is owned (and what is not), as well as what can be taken and appropriated, I drew on data from a yearlong qualitative investigation of young children writing with technology to interrogate how one young child’s scene of play(giarism) can be rendered as consequential writing. Entering this work from a sociocultural perspective wherein literacy learning is intersubjective, findings highlight the descriptive contexts wherein individuality came to intersect with the politics of social belonging and academic obligation. Realizing individual freedoms through contesting compositional forms, play(giarism) meshes personal ways of being and knowing with the doing of (and sometimes disciplining from) others.

Play is pivotal in supporting young children’s holistic development. The COVID-19 crisis further highlighted the importance of play in supporting children’s well-being and in providing a sense of normalcy. Guided by the phenomenographic method, this study aimed to examine Korean in-service infant-toddler teachers’ experiences in fostering play in early childhood educational classrooms during the COVID-19 crisis. The study involved 10 infant-toddler teachers working with children under the age of three years at a large university-based childcare center. They participated in drawing tasks and in-person focus group interviews. The findings revealed that the pandemic caused and exacerbated barriers to everyday play. However, despite challenges, the participants demonstrated their strong commitment to play in the classroom, exhibiting resilience, adaptability, creativity, and resourcefulness. They continued to create a playful environment, support play in various forms, and prioritize play-based learning, demonstrating their strong commitment to play. One notable change expressed by the participants was limited social interaction during mealtime. This study found that the much-needed, unavoidable public health interventions during the COVID-19 crisis may have resulted in unintended consequences for infants’ and toddlers’ social-emotional and language development. Such findings reinforce the idea that play should remain at the forefront of education during the pandemic and beyond.