A Descriptive-Comparative Study of Professional Development and Observed Quality in Early Care and Education Programs

<p>With over 12 million children enrolled in early care and education programming across the U.S., families with children under the age of 5 years old are dependent on these programs. Although highly important, little regulation exists regarding qualifications necessary for individuals to work in these programs. Consequently, individuals in the field bring a plethora of professional development experiences, skills, and competencies. This variance is partly a result of the uncertainty surrounding what should be required. Major information about the impact training and education have on these programs is missing from quantitative research, including capturing content and quantity, accurate measurement of professional development, and clear and consistent definition and categorization of training and education across studies.</p> <p>To contribute to the advancement of accurately describing and understanding effective teachers' professional development experiences in terms of content, quantity, intensity, and duration, a descriptive-comparative design was used to explore how the professional development experiences of teachers in 10 good quality early care and education classrooms (as measured by the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale-Revised [ECERS-R]) differed from the professional development experiences of teachers in 10 poor quality classrooms serving children ages 2½ to 5 years old. Well-defined and recommended categorizations of training, education, and documentation of staff qualifications were used. Other factors that might influence instructional quality, such as program, classroom, and support staff characteristics, were examined as well. Between-group differences of 30% or more were interpreted as interesting.</p> <p>Numerous between-group differences emerged regarding teacher education, training, and credentials. Among these findings, teachers in the good quality cohort were more likely to have completed course content specific to early care and education, including specific combinations of coursework in conjunction with supervised practical experience. The intensity and duration of teachers' exposure to course content was also greater in this cohort. Furthermore, in describing differences, new categories and definitions emerged, including piecemeal and comprehensive education, piecemeal and comprehensive training, content clustering, solo teaching, and hierarchical structuring of staff. These findings can be used as emerging foundations for larger scale research.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year dc:date.available

2010

Author dc:creator

• Romeyn, Rebecca

Contributors dc:contributor

• Toni Linder, Ed.D.
• Janette Benson
• Nicholas Cutforth
• P. Bruce Uhrmacher

• Child care
• Early care and education
• Professional development
• Quality
• Teacher preparation
• Early Childhood Education
• Education
• Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research

Statement dc:rights

• <p>Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.</p>

Language dc:language

en

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/561

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.du.edu:etd-1560