Teachers' education, classroom quality, and young children's academic skills: results from seven studies of preschool programs.
In an effort to provide high-quality preschool education, policymakers are increasingly requiring public preschool teachers to have at least a Bachelor's degree, preferably in early childhood education. Seven major studies of early care and education were used to predict classroom quality and children's academic outcomes from the educational attainment and major of teachers of 4-year-olds. The findings indicate largely null or contradictory associations, indicating that policies focused solely on increasing teachers' education will not suffice for improving classroom quality or maximizing children's academic gains. Instead, raising the effectiveness of early childhood education likely will require a broad range of professional development activities and supports targeted toward teachers' interactions with children.
Early
Diane M
DM
Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 27599, USA. diane_early@unc.edu
Maxwell
Kelly L
KL
Burchinal
Margaret
M
Alva
Soumya
S
Bender
Randall H
RH
Bryant
Donna
D
Cai
Karen
K
Clifford
Richard M
RM
Ebanks
Caroline
C
Griffin
James A
JA
Henry
Gary T
GT
Howes
Carollee
C
Iriondo-Perez
Jeniffer
J
Jeon
Hyun-Joo
HJ
Mashburn
Andrew J
AJ
Peisner-Feinberg
Ellen
E
Pianta
Robert C
RC
Vandergrift
Nathan
N
Zill
Nicholas
N
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards; D003625:Data Collection; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000592:standards; D012578:Schools, Nursery; D013663:Teaching / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States