Poster #51 - Elementary Principals' Early Childhood Credentials: Results of a 13-State Study

• In Event: 18.060 - MTCC Poster Session Two
  In Poster Session: 18.060-7 - Early Childhood Poster Session 1

Abstract

This study explores the claim that most principals of elementary public schools in the United States have limited knowledge of early childhood education (ECE). We investigated this claim by randomly sampling the teaching credentials that elementary principals hold in 13 states where ECE and elementary licenses overlap in grades K-3. The results indicate that approximately eight percent of the principals in these states hold a license in ECE, 68% in elementary, and 31% in neither early childhood nor elementary education. The current results support the assertion that most public school elementary principals in the United States have limited knowledge of ECE.

Author

• R. Clarke Fowler, Salem State University