I explored the potential impact of position and salary change on prekindergarten teachers in a public-school district in a southern state. I provided an educational, economic, political and moral/ethical analysis in partial support of this change for the district.
The current policy in the district is that the school year prekindergarten teaching positions are considered non-instructional. However, the summer prekindergarten program teachers are certified teachers as per state requirements. The new policy will make all prekindergarten teaching positions require state certification. This change would give them the financial pay and benefits included with the position change and keep them in the early childhood field instead of leaving for other positions.
While reviewing data concerning the teaching knowledge and practices of prekindergarten teachers with a bachelor’s degree and without a bachelor’s degree it was found that certified teachers produced a higher percentage of students ready to enter kindergarten. I make the case for this policy to ensure that highly qualified teachers remain in the early childhood program and increase the quality of the prekindergarten program.
","abstract_html":"<p>I explored the potential impact of position and salary change on prekindergarten teachers in a public-school district in a southern state. I provided an educational, economic, political and moral/ethical analysis in partial support of this change for the district.</p> <p>The current policy in the district is that the school year prekindergarten teaching positions are considered non-instructional. However, the summer prekindergarten program teachers are certified teachers as per state requirements. The new policy will make all prekindergarten teaching positions require state certification. This change would give them the financial pay and benefits included with the position change and keep them in the early childhood field instead of leaving for other positions.</p> <p>While reviewing data concerning the teaching knowledge and practices of prekindergarten teachers with a bachelor’s degree and without a bachelor’s degree it was found that certified teachers produced a higher percentage of students ready to enter kindergarten. I make the case for this policy to ensure that highly qualified teachers remain in the early childhood program and increase the quality of the prekindergarten program.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Eubank, Alicia"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Lorrie Butler","Dr. Carla Sparks"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:12Z","subjects":["PreKindergarten","early childhood","phonological awareness","phonemic awareness","Early Childhood Education","Language and Literacy Education","Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/765","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Lorrie Butler","Dr. Carla Sparks"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Eubank, Alicia"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2023-09-24T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["PreKindergarten","early childhood","phonological awareness","phonemic awareness","Early Childhood Education","Language and Literacy Education","Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/765"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["I explored the potential impact of position and salary change on prekindergarten teachers in a public-school district in a southern state. I provided an educational, economic, political and moral/ethical analysis in partial support of this change for the district.
The current policy in the district is that the school year prekindergarten teaching positions are considered non-instructional. However, the summer prekindergarten program teachers are certified teachers as per state requirements. The new policy will make all prekindergarten teaching positions require state certification. This change would give them the financial pay and benefits included with the position change and keep them in the early childhood field instead of leaving for other positions.
While reviewing data concerning the teaching knowledge and practices of prekindergarten teachers with a bachelor’s degree and without a bachelor’s degree it was found that certified teachers produced a higher percentage of students ready to enter kindergarten. I make the case for this policy to ensure that highly qualified teachers remain in the early childhood program and increase the quality of the prekindergarten program.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Program Evaluation of Prekindergarten Program in One School District"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Lorrie Butler","Dr. Carla Sparks"],"dc:creator":["Eubank, Alicia"],"dc:date.available":["2023-09-24T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["I explored the potential impact of position and salary change on prekindergarten teachers in a public-school district in a southern state. I provided an educational, economic, political and moral/ethical analysis in partial support of this change for the district.
The current policy in the district is that the school year prekindergarten teaching positions are considered non-instructional. However, the summer prekindergarten program teachers are certified teachers as per state requirements. The new policy will make all prekindergarten teaching positions require state certification. This change would give them the financial pay and benefits included with the position change and keep them in the early childhood field instead of leaving for other positions.
While reviewing data concerning the teaching knowledge and practices of prekindergarten teachers with a bachelor’s degree and without a bachelor’s degree it was found that certified teachers produced a higher percentage of students ready to enter kindergarten. I make the case for this policy to ensure that highly qualified teachers remain in the early childhood program and increase the quality of the prekindergarten program.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/765"],"dc:subject":["PreKindergarten","early childhood","phonological awareness","phonemic awareness","Early Childhood Education","Language and Literacy Education","Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education"],"dc:title":["A Program Evaluation of Prekindergarten Program in One School District"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:12Z"}