National Association For The Education Of Young Children Research Articles

Jordanian early childhood teachers' beliefs regarding best practices utilizing developmentally appropriate/inappropriate practices as a benchmark

The main objective of this study is to investigate the beliefs of early childhood teachers in Jordan regarding best practices using the Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) and Developmentally Inappropriate Practice (DIP) frameworks. Additionally, the study aims to determine the influence of certain variables on teachers' beliefs regarding best practices. To achieve this objective, a questionnaire was developed and administered to 101 early childhood teachers in Jordan. The data collected was analyzed descriptively using means and standard deviations. The results of the study showed that early childhood teachers' beliefs about best practices were consistent with the DAP construct outlined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Similarly, their beliefs about lower-quality practices were in line with the DIP construct. However, the study also revealed that teachers still held positive beliefs about some traditional practices despite their potential to be developmentally inappropriate. Furthermore, the statistical analysis showed that there were no statistically significant differences in the beliefs of teachers regarding best practices based on their education level or teaching experience. Based on the results of the study, recommendations are made for decision makers and researchers to help them make informed decisions and develop effective professional development plans, which could help early childhood teachers in Jordan to implement DAP effectively. Overall, the findings of this study provide valuable insights that can be used to enhance early childhood education and improve the quality of teaching practices in Jordan.

Preparing early educators for the current context of social emotional learning: A content analysis of course descriptions

Despite the well-established need for teacher preparation in child guidance and social emotional learning, studies have found a lack of robust course offerings in these areas. Further, the United States context for children’s social emotional development is changing due to the global pandemic, racial unrest, and increased gun violence. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has put forth updated teacher competencies to address the changing context as well as new research on early learning. However, little is known about how teacher education programs have implemented the updated guidelines around teacher competencies. For this journal article, we systematically examined 314 early childhood education programs of study from U.S. universities. We share a content analysis of 237 course descriptions from courses dedicated to children’s social emotional learning. We found 26% of programs require no course on social emotional learning. We also identifed the four most and three least represented competencies around social emotional learning. Our content analysis reveals that behaviorist theory is predominant in the design of courses and sociocultural influences are under-represented. We provide implications for regularly updating course descriptions to address the needs of children and families in the ever-changing context of education.

Deconstructing the 2022 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards: A cross-cultural analysis of developmentally appropriate practices in Australia, Kenya and Nepal

ABSTRACT This critical cross-cultural study examined the alignment of the 2022 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards in the U.S. with Australian, Kenyan, and Nepali educational guidelines. Previously, NAEYC’s educational guidelines adhered to Euro-Western notions of child development, with a biased view of normative development for young children (Zaman and Anderson-Nathe 2021). Among other findings, data from this study showed that NAEYC’s standards were potentially sensitive to cultural difference, but did not adequately address child, family, and contextual needs. Therefore, this study recommends continued review of NAEYC’s educational standards to make them culturally and contextually inclusive.

The tradition of early childhood personnel preparation standards alignment analysis

ABSTRACT There is an extensive history of collaboration with respect to policy initiatives between the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). In pursuit of promoting high quality inclusive education for all young children, DEC and NAEYC have partnered to create numerous resources and supports over the years for preservice preparation programs and professional development providers who seek to address both ECE and EI/ECSE personnel preparation standards. One notable result has been the development of formal procedures for alignments of the preparation standards promoted by these organizations. In this paper, we detail this established tradition of early childhood standards alignment analysis by describing the development and details of the procedures used for conducting alignment analyses. These procedures are now precedent and provide a roadmap for future alignment analyses. Implications for personnel preparation and future alignment analysis and standards development are discussed.

Complying and Resisting: A Qualitative Metasynthesis of the Race and Gender Discourses found in the Play of Young Children

For many in the field of early childhood education, the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is considered to be the source for information on high-quality approaches. Currently, NAEYC (2005) states that high-quality programs are programs that include diversity within the physical environment of the room and considers the cultural backgrounds of the students in the class.This acknowledgment of there being bias in our society sheds light on the responsibility early childhood educators have regarding teaching children about biases in order to prevent the continued growth of systematic inequalities. The purpose of this qualitative metasynthesis is to synthesize the findings of various high-quality studies dealing with issues of race and gender and the play of young children as a way to understand better what messages young children are exposed to, are accepting and rejecting. The two research questions that guided the study are (a) How is intertextuality used in the discourse of young children in extant studies involving issues of hegemony in early childhood classrooms? (b) What societal discourses are present in the speech and actions of young children in extant studies involving hegemony in early childhood classrooms? Findings show that young children in extant research confirmed hegemonic messages more than any of the other intertextual responses.

Influence of quality credentialing programs on teacher characteristics in center-based early care and education settings

Considerable evidence relates the quality of early childhood education (ECE) to children’s developmental outcomes, with teacher qualifications often cited as a critical ingredient for high-quality care. As a result, quality credentialing programs—including Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Early Learning Program—are increasingly prominent vehicles for improving program quality. This study combines a randomized resume audit study with administrative data on provider participation in QRIS (N = 5607) and NAEYC (N = 10,553) to examine whether these quality credentialing programs influence provider behavior during the teacher hiring process. While NAEYC-accredited providers are strongly attracted to job applicants with ECE work experience, education, and other professional credentials, QRIS participants are not.

Using the Teaching and Guidance Policy Essentials Checklist to Develop Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Behavior Guidance Policies

The purpose of this study was to extend our previous work using the Teaching and Guidance Policy Essentials Checklist (TAGPEC) by examining the extent to which early childhood behavior guidance policies address language and culture and support program practices that promote fairness and equity for all children. Policies previously collected from 282 programs accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) were reexamined using an updated version of the TAGPEC, which was revised to more fully address cultural and linguistic diversity and implicit bias. Overall, policies failed to address evidence-based practices, and findings are situated within the discourse on the prevalence of challenging behaviors, troubling data on preschool suspension and expulsion rates, and the current ECE context.

P65 - Factors Influencing Childcare Providers' Engagement of Parents Regarding Child Nutrition

Background (Background, Rationale, Prior Research, and/or Theory): The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, parents, childcare directors, and health consultants agree that nutrition education is instrumental to improving children's and families' nutrition knowledge and eating behavior (Benjamin Neelon & Briley, 2011; Gupta et al., 2005). More recent research, however, has demonstrated that childcare providers often report challenges to engaging parents in topics about their children's nutrition (Lyn et al., 2014; Stage et al., 2017). Objective: To determine the factors influencing childcare providers' engagement with parents regarding child nutrition in childcare centers (CCCs) and family childcare homes (FCCHs). Study Design, Setting, Participants, Intervention: This was a cross-sectional, quantitative study on CCCs and FCCHs in Nebraska. CCC directors (n = 337) and FCCH providers (n = 1,153) completed self-administered surveys. Outcome Measures and Analysis: The dependent variable was parent engagement. Fifteen variables were examined as predictors for parent engagement—barriers to communication, participation in Go Nutrition and Physical Self- Assessment in Child Care (Go NAP SACC), National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation, participation in Quality Ratings and Improvement Systems (QRIS), feeding practices, professional development regarding child nutrition, and child-provider ratio. Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the relation between variables for CCCs and for FCCHs. Results: For CCC's, NAEYC accreditation, providers' barriers regarding parents' cultural beliefs about food that are not always consistent with healthy eating, parents not liking the taste of healthy foods, and parents prioritizing other food related topics (allergies or children's food intake) significantly predicted parent engagement. For FCCHs, participation in Go NAP SACC, perceiving parents as busy, not wanting to offend parents, and practicing family style dining were significantly related to parent engagement. For both CCCs and FCCHs, professional development regarding child nutrition was related to parent engagement. Conclusions and Implications: Focusing professional development on childcare contexts and addressing providers' barriers may improve parent engagement. Funding: USDA.

Advocates for Children's Health: Working Together to Reduce Harmful Environmental Exposures.

Advocates for Children's Health: Working Together to Reduce Harmful Environmental Exposures.

Education Quality of Rural Preschool Education Institutions based on the NAEYC Evaluation Standard: an Empirical Study of 20 Kindergartens in Cang County of Hebei Province

In this paper, taking the education quality of rural preschool education institutions in Cang County of Hebei Province as the research object, and 20 kindergartens of different educational levels and certification standards in Cang County of Hebei Province as the research samples, five evaluation indexes---teacher-student interaction, curriculum, physical environment, health and safety, and nutrition and diet were constructed according to the evaluation standard of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). A multivariate linear regression analysis evaluation model was built to evaluate the education quality of rural preschool education institutions in Cang County of Hebei Province according to the survey data. Through the data analysis, the problems of interscholastic unbalance of educational resource distribution and education quality, low literacy of teachers, unreasonable curriculum and unqualified private kindergarten in rural preschool education institutions in Cang County of Hebei Province were found, and the solutions of strengthening education resources, improving teacher qualification and teacher training systems, improving the treatment of teachers and strengthening quality supervision were put forward.

Early childhood education teachers’ constructs of teacher quality in Belize

ABSTRACTThis article is centred on the constructs of teacher quality as defined by early childhood (EC) teachers in Belize. Using the concept of teacher beliefs as a framework, the researchers analyse teachers’ perceptions of quality teaching, which should guide policy and practice decisions. For this pilot study, data were collected from 22 teachers using open-ended and Likert-scale questions from a questionnaire (n = 13) or focus groups (n = 9). Guiding research questions first sought to identify behaviours teachers believed were important or need to be stopped or improved, and second, to determine teacher agreement with guiding standards for excellence in EC teacher preparation as identified by National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Open-coding and descriptives were used to interpret qualitative and quantitative findings. Themes identified by teachers as important EC teacher behaviours and behaviours that needed to be stopped or improved are presented, as well as teachers’ agreement with standards of excellence in EC as identified by NAEYC.

Training to Be an Early Childhood Professional: Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions about Their Education and Training

Professionalism in the context of early care and education has received considerable attention in recent years (Caulfield, 1997; Harte, 2011; Tigistu, 2013). According to the 2010 National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Standards for Initial & Advanced Early Childhood Professional Preparation Programs, teacher candidates prepared in early childhood degree programs should identify and conduct themselves as members of the profession, know and use ethical guidelines and utilize other professional standards related to early childhood practice (NAEYC, 2012). In their final journal entry for a student teaching practicum course, teacher candidates in an accredited early childhood program reflected on what it means to be an early childhood professional. In alignment with the 2010 NAEYC Standards, teacher candidates appeared to recognize that being an early childhood professional means having an understanding of the specialized knowledge required to be effective in early childhood education. They also appeared to be aware that providing responsive, supportive curricula, which acknowledges and respects the whole child and family and their cultural backgrounds, is an integral aspect of the early childhood profession. Implications from this inquiry suggest that the early childhood program should ensure the fidelity to the NAEYC Standards by aligning assignments that incorporate the language and expectations of the Standards.

Play & Read: Lessons Learned from Early Literacy Outreach

This past election season, the Early Ed for President campaign, championed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), brought civic attention to a topic that has steadfast traction in the library world—early literacy. Unlike other educational initiatives that come and go, early literacy is a winning investment.

Grade-level overlap and standards mismatch between nationally recognized programs that prepare teachers for grades PreK–3

ABSTRACTTwo related questions are investigated regarding programs accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). First, to what extent do NCATE-recognized elementary teacher preparation programs, which have been approved by the Association for Child Education International (ACEI), prepare candidates to teach in grades PreK–3, grades that the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) considers part of early childhood education? The current results indicate extensive grade-level overlap: 10% of ACEI-accredited elementary programs have grade spans that begin in preschool (or below), 53% begin in kindergarten, 30% in first grade, and 6% in second grade. The second investigation employed a content analysis to compare ACEI’s national standards for elementary teacher preparation with NAEYC’s national standards for early childhood teacher preparation. This analysis indicates that ACEI’s standards include far fewer references to terms that capture essential features of early instruction (e.g., family, community, and observation). Further, while the NAEYC’s standards refer to “self-regulation” four times and “play” eight times, the elementary standards mention neither term. When referring to learners, the NAEYC almost always used “child” or “children,” but the ACEI mostly used “student” or “students.” These results support calls for both stand-alone early licensure and PreK–3 alignment.

Advancing High-Quality Preschool Inclusion

Although considerable progress has been achieved regarding the research and laws supporting preschool inclusion, access to inclusive preschool environments remains intangible for many children with disabilities in the United States. The purpose of this article is to discuss current challenges and solutions to high-quality preschool inclusion. We use the conceptual framework identified in the Division for Early Childhood (DEC)/National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) inclusion position statement to promote solutions to support high-quality inclusion and the success of all children. We provide conceptual and empirical support for preschool inclusion and outline recommendations to the field.

An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Ethical Beliefs Among Early Childhood Teachers

The purpose of this study is to learn how early childhood educators make ethical decisions. The study also explores how these educators might learn to base their ethical decisions on a professionally accepted ethical code through a participatory professional development process. The professional code of ethics used in this study is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Code of Ethical Conduct. Study participants are six early childhood teachers who work with children aged Birth through 5 years old in a University Lab School. The results of the analysis show that from pre-assessment to the post-assessment, teachers shifted in how they identified and resolved professional ethical dilemmas. As a result of participation in the professional learning and discussions of ethical dilemmas, participants gained new understanding and familiarity with professional ethical behavior and were able to distinguish ethical dilemmas from other judgments as they grew more familiar with and able to use the NAEYC Code. Although participants demonstrated that they are better able to identify and resolve ethical dilemmas, this study concludes by suggesting additional professional learning and research on how protocols and professional learning communities can support teachers’ ethical reasoning.

A Formação de Educadores de Infância: Práticas Adequadas ao Contexto Educativo de Creche

Neste artigo pretendemos abordar a problemática da formação inicial de educadores de infância e a sua adequação, particularmente, ao contexto educativo de creche, que permanece praticamente inexplorado. Nesse âmbito, importa não só referir as opções teóricas que devem enquadrar essa formação, mas também analisar os vários aspetos de intervenção educativa que assegurem, cumulativamente, a qualidade do ambiente educativo e o desenvolvimento global das crianças. Assim, o objetivo primordial é, por um lado, explanar um conjunto de princípios educativos relevantes (Gonzales‑Mena& Eyer, 2001) e, por outro, salientar práticas adequadas ao desenvolvimento de crianças até aos três anos de idade, perspetivadas pela National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). A concluir, serão referidas as implicações e vantagens da consideração de tais princípios e práticas na formação inicial de educadores de infância e o impacto de uma formação deste tipo na prática profissional, no que especificamente se refere ao contexto de creche.

Regulatory Compliance and Safety of Child Care Centers

Source: Crowley AA, Jeon S, Rosenthal MS. Health and safety of child care centers: an analysis of licensing specialists’ reports of routine, unannounced inspections. Am J Public Health. 2013; 103(10): e52– e58; doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301298Investigators from Yale University examined reports from unannounced licensing inspections of child care and group child care centers in Connecticut in order to determine factors associated with regulatory compliance. Inspection reports from visits to centers caring for children <6 years old between 2006 and 2008 were reviewed. Investigators examined the association between regulatory compliance and the following factors of interest: (a) accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), (b) center funding source, (c) compliance with a weekly child care health consultant visit, (d) compliance with 20 hours of child care provider continuing education, and (e) median household income of the area where the child care center was located.The study team grouped 72 regulations into 9 categories that pertained to all child care centers and 4 that pertained only to centers providing infant and toddler care. The 9 categories pertaining to all centers were outdoor safety, indoor safety, indoor health, child and staff documentation, emergency preparedness, child physical health, child supervision, program documentation, and educational programming. The infant and toddler categories were indoor safety, outdoor safety, health, and development. Overall compliance with each category of regulation was calculated. Regression analysis was used to identify the association of each of the 5 factors of interest with compliance in each of the regulatory categories.A total of 676 child care centers were inspected during the study period. A high degree of compliance (>96%) was found for child physical health (eg, nutritious meals), child supervision for preschool children, program documentation (eg, posting a license), and educational programming. Child care centers serving all ages were noncompliant most frequently (48%) with the regulation requiring a hazard-free playground. Infant and toddler centers were most frequently noncompliant with regulations in indoor safety and health categories. For example, 28% of infant and toddler centers had choking hazards such as plastic bags and balloons within the reach of children.Compliance with the regulation requiring evidence that each full-time provider has completed 20 hours of continuing education per year was the factor most strongly associated with compliance with other regulatory requirements. NAEYC accreditation and child care location in areas with higher household income were also significantly associated with increased compliance for some of the regulatory categories. There were no consistent associations between child care funding source and compliance.The authors conclude that continuing education for child care providers is an important intervention to improve the health and safety of children in child care centers and that analysis of licensing reports can assist efforts to improve the quality of child care.Dr Dougé has disclosed no financial relationship relevant to this commentary. This commentary does not contain a discussion of an unapproved/investigative use of a commercial product/device.According to the 2012 Report from Child Care America, over 15 million children under the age of 6 years require child care.1 This represents more than half of such children in the United States in 2013. Since so many families rely on child care for their children, it is imperative that centers that care for their children are healthy and safe. Each state has developed its own set of regulations.The data from this study came from inspection reports of child care centers in Connecticut. Although the study determined the frequency of noncompliance with regulations and which characteristics were most associated with increased compliance, the results may not be applicable to other states that may have more or less stringent regulations or differing frequency of inspections of child care centers.The results of this study indicate that the there is room for improvement for child care centers to demonstrate that they are providing a healthy and safe environment for children. To improve, national health and safety performance standards such as Caring for Our Children could be adopted.2 The adoption of these guidelines could ensure uniformity of regulations across the nation. In the meantime, pediatric providers can counsel families to pay attention to compliance with continuing education requirements for child care staff, the safety of the indoor environment for infants and toddlers, and potential playground hazards when considering a child care center.Playground safety is an area of major import, both within and without day care centers. More than 200,000 playground injuries/year occur in children <14 years of age; almost half of these are severe (eg, fractures).3 Physicians can join parents in advocating for hazard-free playgrounds.

Developmentally appropriate practices and children's perception of self-competence in Head Start classrooms

The present project studied the relationship between the use of developmentally appropriate practices and children's perception of self-competence in Head Start classrooms. Self-competence is defined as children's confidence in succeeding in certain tasks. Developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) as proposed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) are teaching practices that are age appropriate, individually appropriate and culturally appropriate. Seventy-two children attending six Head Start centres participated in the study. Trained researchers filled out the Rating Scale to assess the use Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Classrooms. The participating children's perceived self-competence was measured using the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance. Correlational analysis showed that some of the subscales assessing the use of developmentally appropriate practices were correlated with two of the subscales of the children's perception of self-competence. The above results provide some insight into the importance of the use of developmentally appropriate practices and their effects on children.

Effect of Music Instruction on Preschoolers’ Music Achievement and Emergent Literacy Achievement

Abstract The purpose of this two-year study, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), was to examine the impact of "musically trained" early childhood specialists on the music achievement and emergent literacy achievement of preschool students. The sample, obtained through use of a letter of recruitment mailed to a regional group of National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) members, consisted of 11 teachers who met the criteria for the project and their respective students (N = 165). Following a year of intensive staff development training in musicianship skill and pedagogical strategies for guiding young children’s music development, the teachers implemented the curriculum in the second year and several measures were used to collect data relative to student music and literacy outcomes. Analyses included the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U-test and multivariate techniques of MANCOVA and multiple regression. Results were mixed for music achievement. Median scores were similar for the experimental and control groups on use of singing voice. Students’ tonal pattern achievement in the experimental group was significantly higher but no significant differences were found in children’s rhythm-pattern achievement. When controlling for age and prior knowledge, the music intervention significantly increased children’s oral vocabulary and grammatic understanding and was especially effective for children who began with lower literacy skills.