Search

Children who receive copious amounts of language stimulation from caring adults are likely to develop strong language skills, whereas children who receive limited language stimulation may experience delays. Little is known about the language stimulation strategies that families prefer to use. This mixed-methods study investigated families' preferences for, and use of, 10 specific language promotion strategies. Twenty-four families of infants slated to enter high-poverty schools or receiving Medicaid in the United States participated in a programme called Strong Beginnings for Babies. Three coaches worked with families in small group sessions focused on the strategies. Coach reports and parent ratings indicated there were strategies for which families expressed strongest preference, especially those involving music or chatting with their child. Furthermore, families used these strategies most often. Finally, coaches reported much evidence of family members talking, singing, and reading to their babies, even when a specific strategy of focus was not named.

This study investigated the impact of a course-based community asset mapping (CAM) project on undergraduate students' capacity for identifying and understanding assets within communities surrounding specific schools. The mapping project was grounded in the literature on culturally sustaining pedagogy and experiential education and involved teacher education students (n = 45) collaborating to complete and report on an analysis of local community assets. Findings indicated participants gained improved knowledge and competence regarding CAM, were able to provide more accurate and detailed explanations of assets and the asset mapping process, and were able to identify various assets available to PK-12 students and families in particular communities within the local school district. The discussion highlights participants' success in inventorying physical, tangible assets, and notes where they fell short of recognizing other assets. We also discuss how coursework could have better supported the project and could have allowed the potential of CAM to be more fully realized. The conclusion addresses implications for teacher preparation, particularly for connecting candidates with communities and for the implementation of assignments similar to the community asset mapping project studied herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated family and coach responses to a two-year community-based research program, Strong Beginnings for Babies (SBB), designed to support families in fostering infant language development. The study focused on families of infants from low-income backgrounds, as these children may be at risk for delayed language development. The majority of participants self-identified as Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin. Three coaches were hired to work closely with participating families during a series of group sessions where they modeled language promotion practices, provided feedback on families' implementation of practices, and reviewed measures of infants' home language environments with families. Analyses of surveys, interviews, and documents indicated that SBB proffered a number of benefits for both families and coaches. Benefits for families included increased knowledge about the importance of and practices for engaging in language interactions with their infants, as well as a sense of community with other families. Benefits for coaches included personal and professional opportunities for growth and positive relationships with participating families. Challenges and areas for improvement were also noted. Although families expressed a desire for more frequent and longer coaching sessions, coaches reported concerns about inconsistent program attendance and acknowledged the complexities of families' lives.

School connectedness is important for students' current and future outcomes but may decline in the middle school years. This mixed methods study investigated the impact of a school garden project on 6th-graders' school connectedness. Surveys were completed by 46 middle school students at the beginning and end of a garden unit. In addition, individual interviews were conducted with 25 participants. Quantitative findings indicated that most participants had some gardening experience at home and enjoyed being part of the garden at school. However, pre-post results did not show increased connectedness following the garden unit, as connectedness ratings were moderately high both before and after the garden unit. Analysis of student interviews found that the garden project facilitated home-school, student-student, and student-teacher connections. Qualitative results also highlighted the garden as a context for engagement as students shared what they were learning and doing in the garden, the choices and autonomy they experienced there, and their anticipation of upcoming activities. Finally, interviews documented students' enjoyment of the school garden through their expression of positive emotion and appreciation for the outdoor setting and activities, which students described as stress-relieving and a valued break from traditional schooling. Implications for educators are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong family-teacher partnerships increase family engagement, promoting positive outcomes for children. Early childhood educators need knowledge, skills, and dispositions for establishing strong, meaningful partnerships with diverse families. This research investigated the impact of academic service-learning (ASL) on undergraduate students' knowledge, skills, and dispositions for partnering with culturally and linguistically diverse families to promote young children's early academic learning. Participants included nine undergraduates in an early childhood teacher preparation course, ten culturally and linguistically diverse families, and thirteen 2- to 5-year-old children. In this mixed-methods study, written student ASL reflections, pre- and post-ASL student surveys, and parent evaluations were analyzed. Three themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Students entered the ASL experience with excitement and a mostly positive approach; (2) Early to mid-semester, students articulated a high degree of nervousness and discomfort as well as challenges to partnership-building, yet also noted family interest and engagement; and (3) Mid- to late semester, most students expressed their growing confidence in their own skills for relating to diverse families, and identified family strengths. Our findings support ASL as an effective teacher-preparation pedagogy to help students build family-teacher partnerships.

Children's early numeracy knowledge predicts later academic performance, yet many children do not experience optimal math instruction. This study investigated the impact of academic service-learning (ASL) in an early childhood teacher preparation math course and answered the following research question: Was the ASL experience effective in improving students' dispositions and self-efficacy for teaching early math? Participants included nine undergraduates in an early childhood teacher preparation course and thirteen 2- to 5-year-old children from ten culturally and linguistically diverse families. Results of this mixed-methods study indicated the university students expressed considerable math anxiety near the beginning of the course, yet they believed in the importance of math and aspired to support children's math. Students articulated challenges and assumptions related to supporting early math. A key finding was that, across the ASL experience, students experienced a shift away from anxiety and toward self-efficacy for teaching math and a disposition to advocate for early math. Children's math knowledge was also assessed and was significantly higher post-ASL than pre-ASL. The article concludes with a discussion of the obligation of early childhood teacher preparation programs to address possible math anxiety among preservice teachers and provide experiences that help students build self-efficacy for teaching math.

Given the increased emphasis on science in early learning standards, two studies were conducted to investigate preschool teachers' efficacy for teaching science and their inquiry-based teaching practices. Fifty-one teachers completed a survey of their efficacy for teaching science and understanding of inquiry methods. Teachers reported moderate confidence in their abilities, but only 25% of respondents indicated knowledge of most steps of the inquiry process. In a follow-up study, a small group of teachers participated in training sessions followed by in-depth interviews. Most teachers reported implementing the beginning steps of inquiry, such as observing and questioning, within an activity, but rarely reported next steps, such as making predictions and evaluating evidence. Participants identified lack of materials, scheduling, and time constraints as challenges to inquiry-based teaching. Findings highlight the need for professional development, emphasising the integrated, sequential, cyclic nature of the inquiry process to support preschoolers' complex thinking and reasoning.

Twenty-first century educators of young children need skills and dispositions for building partnerships with the families of all their students. Educators worldwide frequently teach children from families whose backgrounds, including socioeconomic status and home language, are different from their own. This article introduces 12 principles for fostering strengths-based partnerships with families and then describes a service-learning project in two early childhood teacher education courses in which university students implemented these principles as they worked to develop partnerships with families of young dual language learners. Students' written reflections on the service-learning project detailed their significant shifts in thinking regarding communication with the families and assumptions they held about them.

Knowledge and skills regarding policy and advocacy are important expectations for today's early childhood workforce, yet policy and advocacy content and processes have not traditionally been emphasized in teacher preparation programmes. This article describes an innovative undergraduate course that goes beyond traditional foci on developmental research and pedagogy and aims to inform future early childhood professionals about policies and policy-making procedures. The course also prepares students to engage in advocacy efforts on behalf of young children and their families by providing content on advocacy processes and opportunities, and by requiring students to complete an advocacy project. The authors present student responses to the course and discuss possible implications for research and practice.

Effective personnel preparation is critical to the development of a high quality early childhood workforce that provides optimal care and education for young children. This mixed-methods study examined the effectiveness of, and learner perspectives on, instruction via web-based modules within face-to-face early childhood personnel preparation courses. The specific modules selected were designed around an evidence-based decision-making framework and focused on evidence-based practices: embedded interventions, assistive technology, and tiered instruction. Nineteen undergraduate students studying early childhood participated in pre- and post-instruction surveys and post-instruction focus groups. Participants' written module activities provided additional sources of data. Statistical analyses of quantitative survey data and thematic analyses of qualitative survey data and focus groups were conducted. Results found the web-based modules to be effective, as indicated by learners' knowledge and competence ratings, written explanations of the specific evidence-based practices, and completed assignments. Examination of learner perspectives indicated that learners perceived web-based modules to be effective over and above other instructional methods and preferred web-based modules to traditional instruction, at least to some degree. Learners found videos and realistic practice dilemmas to be the most useful module resources. They reported technology challenges and identified preferred supports, including more in-class discussion. Implications for personnel preparation and further research are discussed.

Preschool teachers' beliefs relating to the importance of social-emotional competence and teacher practices that support children's competence were investigated through surveys and focus groups. Survey results indicated that Head Start and public school pre-K teachers placed higher importance on social-emotional behaviours and skills than on early math and language and literacy behaviours and skills and reported a variety of practices to promote prosocial skills, pretend play, and friendships. Practices that support prosocial skills ranged from setting the tone of the social environment to responding to situations that arose. Similarly, practices that support pretend play focused on setting up pretend play scenarios and helping children play in those scenarios. Finally, practices to support friendships involved practices that may set the stage for friendship development, facilitating dyadic and small group interactions, and involving parents. Results are discussed in terms of connections with previous research and developmentally appropriate practice recommendations.

This article advocates for the need to link early childhood program quality and professional development, with a particular focus on how this topic relates to early childhood inclusion. There is consensus in the early childhood field about various components of program quality for young children in general, and a number of states now have program quality improvement systems in place to guide professional practice in this regard. However, there is a need to reach consensus on dimensions of program quality that define high quality inclusion and to reflect these dimensions in both program standards and professional development efforts. This article provides recommendations for how components of quality inclusion can be incorporated into professional development to ensure that practitioners are highly effective in serving every child and family, including those with disabilities. (Contains 1 figure.)

Adult support of 12 specific friendship dyads involving 3- to 5-year-old children with and without developmental delays was investigated through semi-structured interviews with the children's parents and teachers. Most respondents described these friendships as harmonious and important for the emotional benefits that these relationships provided children. Parents and teachers reported supporting the friendships through a variety of strategies, ranging from setting up the social environment to helping friends interact with each other and engaging in home-school communication on the topic of friendship. Findings also indicated that some of these strategies may have been implemented incidentally, rather than being intentionally focused on friendship support. Teachers reported giving information and being asked about or provided with information but did not report asking parents for information relating to specific friendships. (Contains 3 tables.)

This article begins with a vignette about Carla, a 4-year-old girl with a diagnosis of developmental delays. It then describes a model to facilitate inclusion of young children in early childhood settings. The authors developed this model as they worked with practicing early childhood professionals. The model places emphasis on the following components: (a) assessment of the child and environment; (b) interdisciplinary collaboration among team members (including the family); (c) an individualized inclusion plan to meet the child's needs, including modification of the environment to achieve IEP goals; and (d) progress monitoring. First, recommended practices and examples of research studies relating to these components are discussed. Then, components of the model are illustrated as Carla's team uses the model to facilitate Carla's full inclusion in her preschool setting. The authors believe that inclusion is not always a simple process, but with collaboration and using systematic planning, it can be successful. (Contains 5 tables.)

Promoting interactions between preschool children is an important topic because peer social interactions provide a crucial context for children's development. However, many young children experience difficulty with peer relations, particularly children with disabilities. Indeed, children with disabilities have problems with peer interactions beyond difficulties expected based on developmental level. For children who have great difficulty interacting with peers, early educators must plan, implement, and monitor interventions to promote social interactions. This article describes the importance of peer social interactions for children's development and then suggests how early educators can intervene by: (1) setting up the environment; (2) teaching children social interaction skills; and (3) involving peers in social interaction interventions. Finally, general guidelines for implementing these interventions are provided. (Contains 6 tables.)