Preschool Classrooms Research Articles

Teacher implementation of an individualised vocabulary intervention programme for dual language learners in a preschool classroom

Purpose This study explored the feasibility of implementing an individualised vocabulary intervention for dual language learners through teachers, who leverage their knowledge about their students to address each child’s diverse needs. Method Participants were 32 Cantonese-English pre-school dual language learners and 16 teacher implementers from eight classrooms of a Head Start Programme. During the 3-week programme, teacher implementers were given an individualised set of 12 target words for each student. Implementation was measured using daily logs, questionnaires, and interviews. Children’s immediate word learning was reported by teachers and word retention was measured two weeks after the intervention. Result Teacher implementers were able to teach the individual target words to each participant in one-on-one interactive sessions 94% of the time. Various teaching strategies were used along with culturally relevant teaching materials. On average, children learned 92% of the target words and retained 42% of the target words. Conclusion The study highlights the practicability of implementing an individualised intervention programme by harnessing teachers’ knowledge of the children they work with. The results have implications for building a high-quality and culturally-responsive intervention programme for dual language learners.

A systematic review of studies investigating quality of inclusive preschool classrooms

A systematic review of studies investigating quality of inclusive preschool classrooms

Associations among preschool classroom chaos, work climates, and child outcomes

This study examined the associations between two unique features of classroom chaos (chaotic structure and chaotic atmosphere) in preschool settings and teacher-perceived child functioning, and the roles of teacher- and director-perceived work climates. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze the nested data of 329 children within 53 classrooms. The study found distinct roles of chaotic structure and atmosphere. Moreover, the congruence/incongruence between teacher- and director-perceived work climates significantly moderated the associations between classroom chaos and teacher-perceived child outcomes. The findings highlight the importance of considering multidimensional preschool environments and promoting positive work climates perceived by both teachers and directors.

Quality of Early Childhood Education and Care in Kazakhstan: The First Nationwide Study

Currently, Kazakhstan has the highest enrolment rate in the history of early childhood education and care (ECEC), with 98% enrolment for children aged three to six years old. With this significant expansion of ECEC, there is a lack of sufficient evidence on its overall quality. This study is the first countrywide study aimed to evaluate the ECEC quality in Kazakhstan using the internationally recognized Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS-3). We looked at 50 preschool classrooms from all regions of Kazakhstan. The preschools had different combinations of the following characteristics: located in urban/rural areas; state/private; with Russian/Kazakh-language instruction. The scores demonstrated ‘below the minimal’ quality of ECEC in Kazakhstan. No correlation was found between the quality of ECEC and regions or types of settlement. Findings revealed such problems as deprivation of play, predominance of teacher-led pedagogy, large child-to-staff ratio and others. Children are not offered adequate amounts or variety of cognitively stimulating opportunities that would support their development and learning. There was a statistically significant difference in quality depending on the language of instruction. Kazakh groups were more likely to score worse than Russian ones (N=47, p=.026). The reasons for these findings are numerous, both due to the complexity of the ‘quality’ notion, as well as various issues that influence the quality of ECEC in Kazakhstan.

When bigger looks better: CLASS results in public Montessori preschool classrooms

The CLASS-PreK instrument is widely used to evaluate early childhood classrooms, but how classrooms using Montessori, the world's most common alternative education system, fare on CLASS is understudied. Because CLASS focuses largely on teacher-child interactions as the situs of learning, but in Montessori theory, child-environment interactions are considered more primary, Montessori classrooms may score systematically lower than conventional classrooms on CLASS. CLASS also collects format, content, and demographic information that could illuminate how Montessori classrooms compare to other classrooms. Here we used data from the first national study of public Montessori preschool to examine CLASS data in Montessori preschool classrooms as compared to a lottery-control-selected set of business-as-usual ones. Montessori classrooms (n = 54) had 50% more children on average, and significantly higher child:adult ratios (roughly 9 vs. 6) than a set of intentionally stratified control classrooms (n = 19 of 128), and CLASS scores did not differ across classroom types. Children in Montessori classrooms were observed in whole group activities during fewer cycles and in freely chosen activities during more cycles; also children were observed engaging with math content during more cycles in Montessori than in control classrooms. Counterintuitively, but consistent with Montessori theory, Montessori classrooms with larger class sizes (up to 26) had higher Emotional Support and Classroom Organization domain scores, and those with higher child:adult ratios (up to 13:1) trended towards higher Instructional Support domain scores.

Promoting social competence and social inclusion in the preschool: a peer-based relational intervention

ABSTRACT Reviews concerning the enhancement of preschool children’s social competencies reveal areas within which teacher approach, definitions of social competence and methods of study can be enhanced. In response, teachers and researchers co-developed and introduced a peer-based relational intervention to support children’s communication, empathic response and non-homophilic choice of friendship/work mates. Within this design-based approach, a three-phase comparison was made in 14 English preschool classrooms. Results identified changes attributed to the intervention regarding: teacher behaviour (movement from giving directions to observation and support); child behaviour (enhanced reciprocal communication, empathic response to others and engagement in cognitively challenging activities) and an expansion of socially inclusive play/work mates. Not all teachers/classes responded to the relational approach in the same manner: those that engaged actively in the approach encouraged more social competence enhancements amongst children; those with lower engagement identified support/implementation problems and children showed less social competence advances.

Using teach ECE to observe the quality of online teaching during the pandemic: an exploratory study in a pre-school in Chile

ABSTRACT During COVID-19, many schools worldwide were closed. In this unprecedented context, some students accessed distance or remote education. Assessing the quality of in-person early childhood education has a long-dated challenge and doing the same within a preschool online setting is unprecedented. This study aimed to utilize the Teach ECE observation instrument developed by the World Bank in 2021 to explore the quality of synchronous online lessons across 8 preschool classrooms in a private school in Chile. The tool is designed to observe 28 quality teaching behaviors organized into four areas. The dataset encompassed 640 min of video recordings capturing synchronous online classes over a 5-month period. Findings revealed that 7 out of the 8 preschool teachers exhibited low or medium-low quality practices across all three areas examined in this study. Average scores per area indicate that Classroom Culture obtained the highest score, followed by guided learning, and finally by socio-emotional Skills.

The effect of classroom acoustics and noise on preschool children’s listening, learning, and wellbeing: A scoping review

Preschool is an important time for children to grow in their experiences, abilities, and knowledge before entering formal school. Therefore, it is vital that the classroom acoustic environment supports children’s listening, learning, and wellbeing. The aim of this scoping review was to determine what is known from the literature about the effect of classroom acoustics and noise on preschool children’s listening, learning, and wellbeing, and what the knowledge gaps are. The scoping review followed the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Seven papers met the criteria to be included in the review. The findings suggest that poor classroom acoustic conditions and particularly high noise levels, can have a negative effect on preschool school children’s listening and wellbeing, but may not affect word learning at the SNRs investigated. Nevertheless, it would be beneficial to install acoustic solutions and manage noise in preschool classrooms to enhance children’s listening, learning, and wellbeing. Future research avenues are discussed.

Examination of early literacy-rich settings in inclusive preschool classrooms

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to describe the current state of early literacy-rich settings of inclusive preschool classrooms where inclusive practices are implemented. In order to build the scale (measurement instrument), first, an item pool was created, expert input was solicited, and a pilot form of the scale was created, all in accordance with the study’s objectives. Following that, data were collected from 311 teachers employed in 55 kindergartens to undertake validity and reliability analyses of the measurement instrument and to construct its final form. The study began with an examination of the validity and reliability of the Preschool Early Literacy Settings Evaluation Scale (PELSES). Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the scale’s factor structure, yielding a 27-item 5-factor PELSES with eigenvalues ranging from 1.43 to 9.27. Second, the state of the early literacy-rich settings of preschool classroom environments was described by determining mean scores and the classroom environments these scores represented. According to the findings, 17.4% of the preschool classrooms in the study were classified as inadequate, 30.2% as incomplete, 35.4% as average, and 17% as good classroom environments. Finally, which demographic characteristics make a difference in early literacy settings in inclusive preschool classrooms were investigated.

Shaping Student Relationships: The Role of Personality in Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers.

The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study is to explain teacher-student relationships in preschool classrooms in terms of the child's temperament and the pre-service preschool teachers' personalities. The study was conducted using a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design. Since both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained, sampling was carried out in two stages: quantitative random stratified sampling, and qualitative purposive sampling. Quantitative data were obtained from 126 pre-service teachers. The qualitative study group consisted of 18 pre-service teachers. Quantitative data were collected using the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale-Short Form, the Short Temperament Scale for Children (STSC), and the Five Factor Personality Inventory (FPI). Qualitative data were obtained from interviews with 18 teachers. The findings revealed that the student-teacher relationship can be explained by adult and child characteristics. In addition, pre-service teachers' perceptions of the student-teacher relationship are explained by adult characteristics much more than pre-service teachers' perceptions.

Names y nombres: Names as gateways to biliteracy in multilingual early childhood classrooms

This paper describes name-related literacy practices in a multilingual preschool classroom and their implications for emergent biliteracy. We draw on a translingual framework to understand children’s name-writing activities and how bilingual children’s early literacy interacts with, and at times disrupts, the written conventions of named languages. Drawing on fieldnotes, observations, and artifacts from a preschool classroom serving Spanish-English bilingual children, we examined how children and teachers used names as resources for early literacy learning. We found that names are (potential) gateways to letter-sound relationships across languages, that names teach that some features of writing are shared across languages and some are different, and finally that names differ from other kinds of words children encounter across languages. We discuss what those instances prompt us to (re)consider about name-related teaching and emergent biliteracy.

Young Children's Directed Question Asking in Preschool Classrooms.

Question asking is a prevalent aspect of children's speech, providing a means by which young learners can rapidly gain information about the world. Previous research has demonstrated that children exhibit sensitivity to the knowledge state of potential informants in laboratory settings. However, it remains unclear whether and how young children are inclined to direct questions that support learning deeper content to more knowledgeable informants in naturalistic classroom contexts. In this study, we examined children's question-asking targets (adults, other preschoolers, self-talk) during an open-play period in a US preschool classroom and assessed how the cognitive and linguistic characteristics of questions varied as a function of the intended recipient. Further, we examined how these patterns changed with age. We recorded the spontaneous speech of individual children between the ages of 3 and 6 years (N = 30, totaling 2875 utterances) in 40-min open-period sessions in their preschool day, noting whether the speech was directed toward an adult, another child, or was stated to self. We publish this fully transcribed database with contextual and linguistic details coded as open access to all future researchers. We found that questions accounted for a greater proportion of preschoolers' adult-directed speech than of their child-directed and self-directed speech, with a particular increase in questions that supported broader learning goals when directed to an adult. Younger children directed a higher proportion of learning questions to adults than themselves, whereas older children asked similar proportions of questions to both, suggesting a difference in younger and older children's question-asking strategies. Although children used greater lexical diversity in questions than in other utterances, their question formulation in terms of length and diversity remained consistent across age and recipient types, reflecting their general linguistic abilities. Our findings reveal that children discriminately choose "what" and "whom" to ask in daily spontaneous conversations. Even in less-structured school contexts, preschoolers direct questions to the informant most likely to be able to provide an adequate answer.

Exploring Links Between Social Competence, Immigrant Background, and Children’s Preschool Adjustment

ABSTRACT Research Findings: In the present study, we investigated the roles of children’s social competence and immigrant background in the prediction of the quality of children’s relationships with peers and teachers and school adjustment. Participants were N = 212 children (M age = 58.32 months, SD = 10.72; n = 98 with an immigrant background) and their teachers (two per class). One teacher in each class assessed children’s social competence and behavior problems, whereas the other rated the quality of their attachment relationships with the children and their adaptation to school. Social acceptance was assessed via peer sociometric nominations. Among the results, children with an immigrant background evidenced greater conflict and dependence in their relationships with teachers, poorer social acceptance, and less pleasure in school. Among children with an immigrant background, externalizing behaviors were associated with conflict in relationships with teachers, whereas internalizing behaviors were associated with dependence. Practice or Policy: The study highlights how social behaviors and immigrant background can affect the quality of attachment relationships with teachers in the preschool classroom.

Increasing the odds for success: Applying evidence-based professional learning to foster self-regulation and executive functioning in preschool classrooms

Higher educator qualifications and training are associated with more positive child outcomes. For in-service educators, professional learning (PL) is promotive of high-quality pedagogical practices. Yet rarely is PL efficacy evaluated. This paper elucidates the principles underpinning a PL program for in-service preschool educators that generated educator-level practice change and child-level self-regulation and executive function improvement. Grounded in contemporary research on characteristics for effective PL, expected mechanisms of change are articulated in relation to the design and implementation of PL programs. Mechanisms included: presenting credible information from high-quality evidence and sources; managing educators’ cognitive load; modelling new learning within the specific educational context; and encouraging self-monitoring. This paper details how the PL program leverages these mechanisms, in alignment with recognised characteristics for effective PL. Through this mapping, this paper provides an example of the potential of PL to foster a positive shift in educator practices.

Translanguaging as a strategy for navigating multilingualism in peri-urban preschool classrooms

Translanguaging as a strategy for navigating multilingualism in peri-urban preschool classrooms

Evidence-Based Practices for Evaluating Preschoolers Who Are Deaf/Hard of Hearing Using Listening and Spoken Language for Special Education Eligibility

Purpose: Many young children who are deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH) using listening and spoken language (LSL) demonstrate improved spoken language outcomes. Anecdotally, one cascading effect of these improved outcomes is that many children are not qualifying for continued services at the age of 3 years during the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 Part C to Part B transition due to norm-referenced language performance within the average range. Although norm-referenced performance is one metric for determining language delay and is heavily relied on by educational teams, these siloed measures do not reflect listening, language, and learning demands of a typical preschool classroom. This tutorial highlights the research-to-practice gap currently existing in school-based contexts when evaluating a young child who is D/HH using LSL for special education services. Conclusions: An evidence-based framework for ecologically valid, school-based evaluations during the transition period from IDEA (2004) Part C to Part B for young children who are D/HH using LSL between 30 and 35 months of age is presented that balances sensitivity with feasibility. With a particular emphasis on assessment practices for spoken language, the framework connects the purpose of special education eligibility evaluations with evidence-based practice guidance from the literature. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.26359642

“Nobody answered, didn't you listen to me?”: Preservice teacher-facilitated read-alouds and their strategies to navigate interactivity in preschool classrooms

This study explores how preservice teachers exhibit and navigate interactivity during their read-aloud sessions within preschool classrooms. We analyzed 74 video recordings from 26 PSTs, capturing these interactive read-aloud sessions across six preschools in Turkey using Beauchamp and Kennewell's (2010) interactivity framework. The findings reveal three types of interactions observed during the sessions: unnoticed and limited opportunities for interaction, opening space for interactivity through conversations, and centering interactivity for critical thinking and deeper understanding was pivotal. Therefore, this study emphasizes the urgency of improving the reading proficiency of preservice teachers and the necessity for transformative changes in teacher training programs.

Figuring the World of Home-School Relationships

This article uses figured worlds to explore the limit-situations imposed by dominant narratives of home-school relationships. Through a semiotic analysis of a wall hanging in a preschool classroom, we explore what figured worlds are imagined as possible for home-school relationships. The dominant narratives implicit in these figured worlds ossify configurations of home and school that privilege ways of being and knowing that exclude, reject, or demonize the experiences of culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse families.

Teacher-child Discourse in Vietnamese Preschool Classrooms: An Exploratory Case Study of Teachers’ Questions and Statements in the Planned Science Activity

AbstractThe quality of teacher-child discourse affects children’s development and learning. Our study aims to explore teacher-child discourse during planned science activities (PSAs) in Vietnamese preschools. This research is essential to understanding the reasons behind Vietnamese children’s low level of scientific skills and to exploring the dynamics of discourse in an Asian context. We conducted a case study to describe and understand the teacher-child discourse during PSAs. The study involved eight PSA sessions in four classes of three to four-year-old in Da Nang, Vietnam. We found that teachers tended to make statements more often than ask questions. When they did ask, they preferred using closed questions that did not require much of a response from children. Open questions were used sparingly, even though they are crucial for promoting children’s cognitive thinking and literacy. Teachers also made use of rhetorical questions that did not require any answer. This has led to mostly non-interactive classes where students remain passive learners. To improve the quality of teacher-child discourse, we suggest providing teacher training on encouraging children to participate and asking more engaging questions.

Associations between Preschool Teachers' Food-Based Learning Frequency, Level of Personal Priority and Identified Resources and Challenges: A Needs Assessment.

Food-based learning (FBL) is the use of food as a teaching tool in the classroom, which can expose children to healthy foods to improve preference and consumption. However, more research is needed on the use and perception of FBL in the Head Start (HS) preschool classroom. In an online survey, we explored associations between North Carolina HS teachers' (n = 168) experiences (e.g., resources, challenges, needs, and preferences) with FBL, how frequently teachers implemented it, and how much they prioritized it. We used frequencies and chi-square tests of independence to assess associations between study variables. Teachers reported using FBL regularly with access to FBL resources (e.g., books and center play materials) and experiencing challenges (e.g., lack of funding and material resources). Teachers partnered with parents and farmers markets and expressed a need for additional FBL professional development. Our needs assessment findings revealed specific resources, challenges, and perceptions significantly associated with how often teachers used FBL and their priority level. Additional research should investigate how to alleviate FBL challenges and strategies to create policy and environmental changes that facilitate early FBL.