Center-Level Predictors of Teacher-Student Interactions in Head Start: Do Teacher Characteristics Matter?

• In Event: Crown Plaza Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Early Childhood Policy Issues

Abstract

High-quality teacher-child interactions are a key component of high-quality early childhood education. Current efforts to support teachers to engage in these interactions overlook the fact that as individuals, teachers’ interactions with students are influenced by the characteristics of the center in which they work. Such is the goal of this study. Using data from the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2009, this study found that center support for staff education, encouragement of math, language and literacy, and social-emotional activities, and whether the teacher makes most of the instructional decisions, are associated with teachers’ Emotional Support and Classroom Organization in Head Start classrooms. The study also found that some of these associations vary depending on teachers’ depression and education level.

Authors

• Manuela Jimenez, Arizona State University

• Megan Pratt

• Michelle Taylor, Arizona State University