Early Childhood Education Journal最新文献

This study evaluates the effects of a weekly home-visiting parenting program designed to enhance parent-child engagement with educationally-enriching activities and its potential interaction with children’s participation in state-funded preschool. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset linked across various administrative sources, we employed a quasi-experimental approach featuring inverse probability weighting regression adjustment and nearest neighbor matching to assess outcomes as measured at or leading up to kindergarten entry. We focused on a cohort of 2,000 diverse children born between 2012 and 2016, aged three and four at the intervention’s onset. Participation in the home-visiting program was associated with significant positive effects on children’s cognitive skills, IDEA Part B service uptake, and the likelihood of reported child maltreatment, which persisted after adjusting for state-funded preschool participation. We found no statistical evidence of interactions between the program and preschool, underscoring the program’s additive contributions to early childhood development and family well-being.

Despite the importance of classroom language interactions for children’s school readiness skills and the school readiness gaps faced by Spanish-speaking emergent bilinguals (EBs), the field knows little about their classroom language interactions in early childhood education (ECE) classrooms. Expanding upon traditional approaches of observing classroom interactions, this study applies a child-centered analytic method to identify profiles of EBs classroom language interactions, characterized by their vocalizations and conversational turn-taking with teachers and peers, based on audio recordings. Data were drawn from 20 ECE classrooms and 171 EB children (ages 3 to 4) during the 2020–2021 school year. Latent profile analysis using variables from all-day recordings of EB children’s language environment identified three profiles: (1) limited classroom language interactions (58%); (2) engaging in conversations with teachers (14%); and (3) vocalizing and engaging conversations with peers (28%). EB children categorized to the second profile were less likely to speak Spanish and have teachers who spoke Spanish but were more likely to hear more words than EBs in profile 1. EBs children in profile 3 were likelier to be older than EBs in profile 1. Given that most EBs were in a profile of limited language interactions, the findings suggest the importance of improving opportunities and providing more support for EBs to engage in conversational turn-taking with their teachers and peers.

Self-determination refers to skills used to experience a quality of life consistent with one’s preferences, strengths, and needs. Theoretical and empirical literature has identified contextual opportunities for children to learn and use these skills in their everyday activities and routines. The present study used an investigator-developed observational coding system to describe and quantify preschool teachers’ use of teaching practices that could promote young children’s foundational self-determination skills. Twenty-one preschool teachers who had children with and without identified disabilities or developmental delays enrolled in their classrooms were observed for 15 min during two types of preschool classroom activities: child-initiated and teacher-directed. Teachers’ use of practices ranged from 6 to 60 occurrences across five self-determination skill categories, with an average of 24.43 occurrences in 30 min. Self-regard, self-direction, and self-advocacy practices were more frequently used than self-regulation and social problem-solving practices. Exploratory analyses of the observational data suggested differences in teachers’ use of self-determination teaching practices across the two types of activities and positive correlations between teachers’ use of self-determination teaching practices and the observed quality of teacher-child interactions. Implications of the study findings for teaching practices teachers can use to promote young children’s self-determination skills during classroom activities are discussed in the context of inclusive and high-quality early childhood education.

The aim of the study is to comprehensively analyze the interrelationships between teacher efficacy, the sources of self-efficacy, and implementation of early childhood education (ECE). The assumption is that according to socio-cognitive theory, source categories predict the self-efficacy of educational staff. According to a few previous research results, knowledge of theories and research in the field of education also contributes to a professional’s self-efficacy. In this study, 202 Finnish ECE teachers evaluated their self-efficacy and its sources (mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, and physiological arousal) as well as their pedagogical planning, implementation, and leadership. A path analysis was conducted to estimate the sources of self-efficacy and active and reactive use of educational research as predictors of teacher self-efficacy, and further, of self-efficacy as a predictor of teachers’ pedagogical planning, implementation, and leadership. The findings showed that mastery experiences, social persuasion, and physiological arousal were positively related to self-efficacy in pedagogical approaches, group management, and child engagement. Intentional use of educational theory and research was positively related to self-efficacy in pedagogical approaches. Furthermore, the quality of pedagogical planning, implementation, and leadership were predicted by high self-efficacy in pedagogical approaches, but implementation also by social persuasion and active use of theory and research.

Using a national database, this study examined the relationship between the language of instruction models and the frequency of peer-mediated learning activity on English learners’ reading achievement (N = 1,004). Results from the Multilevel Modeling (MLM) analyses revealed an interaction between the language of instruction and the frequency of peer-mediated learning in EL’s second-grade reading. Specifically, ELs enrolled in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs who worked weekly with monolingual English speaker peers had greater reading scores than those who worked daily or monthly. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Temperament is a widely researched trait that significantly influences children’s lives. Still, theorists differ in their perspectives on the construct. With their nine dimensions of temperament and three “categories” of children—easy, difficult, or slow to warm up—Thomas and colleagues (1968) laid the foundation for future temperament research. Subsequent researchers have identified temperament profiles that are similar to but not completely consistent with Thomas and colleagues’ model. Still, most conceptualizations exist primarily for researchers and may be challenging to translate for educators who work directly with children and their caregivers. Therefore, this study had two aims. First, we used cluster analysis to corroborate and extend research that categorized children into temperament groups. We identified four groups that converge and one group that diverges from previous findings. Our second, more important purpose was to strengthen the link between research and practice by conceptualizing our results in a way that is understandable to educators and caregivers. The challenging task of capturing the nature of each cluster in one or even a few words led us to adopt a zoomorphic approach in which we assigned nonhuman animal names to each group: koalas, penguins, dogs, bobcats, and giraffes. Our findings support previous groupings of children by temperament and provide a consumer-friendly model that facilitates communication between caregivers and educators.

This article explores integrating a STEM equity framework in analyzing primary picture books, focusing on providing equitable access to high-quality STEM learning experiences for all students. It delves into the multifaceted nature of STEM literacy, emphasizing critical thinking, problem-solving, utility, applicability, empathy, STEM dispositions, identity development, and empowerment. The article explicitly addresses the historical exclusion of minoritized students from STEM learning and careers and proposes an Equity-Oriented STEM Literacy Framework. The study examines the criteria for selecting children’s picture books published between 2011 and 2021 that contribute to early STEM literacy and representation. The overarching goal is to promote inclusivity, diversity, and equity in STEM education, fostering a dynamic and accessible learning environment for all students.

Even though the tenuous financial model for Early Care and Education (ECE) is one of the primary reasons for many ECE programs’ permanent closing, considerably little attention has been devoted to supporting ECE leaders’ business knowledge and skills. Supporting the leadership and business practices can be an effective strategy for ensuring a strong supply of high-quality ECE for children and families. Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT), this study evaluated the effectiveness of a business management course (BMC) for ECE program leaders serving under resourced communities. Half of the sample was randomly assigned to the BMC intervention group and received a 14-week training. After controlling for the pre-test scores, perceived business management skills and confidence in business practices were higher among the BMC participants than those in the control group. This study provides insights into efforts to improve the sustainability of ECE programs.