The Role of Center Directors in Producing High Quality Preschool Experiences for Young Children

• In Event: Shaping ECE Classroom Quality: Center Director, Teacher, and Assistant Teacher Contributions

Abstract

Introduction
High-quality preschool promotes school readiness and success, especially for children from low-income and immigrant families (Yoshikawa et al., 2013). Despite the importance of high-quality preschool programs, many children do not attend such programs. The existing literature has considered potential causes but these studies have indicated only small, inconsistent predictors of classroom quality (Early et al., 2007). One potential explanation is that a broader perspective that focuses on macro-level processes within centers is needed. Although center-level factors are rarely considered when examining factors that increase the quality of classrooms, K-12 research indicates that school-level processes influence what goes on in individual classrooms. In particular, principals have great capacity to shape classroom-level success (Griffith, 2004). Like principals, center directors have enormous influence over instructional priorities and a myriad of other processes within preschools. Accordingly, in this study we examine how aspects of center directors shape activities within the classroom and ultimately, children’s learning.

Hypotheses
We hypothesize that center-level leadership and center director challenges will be associated with 1) teacher reports of their classroom activities and their observed quality and 2) children’s learning across the preschool year.

Study Population
Data were drawn from the fall 2009 and spring 2010 data points of Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2009 cohort (FACES 2009). FACES 2009 contains a nationally representative sample of children attending Head Start, as well as their classrooms and centers. Our sample includes 2,381 children, their 430 teachers, and 127 center directors who participated in the follow-up data collection in spring of the 2008-09 school year.

Methods
Center directors reported on center leadership using 12 items, with higher scores indicating more positive leadership. Sample items include whether their center “makes teachers feel a part of the team” or “knows what teachers deal with in the classroom.” They reported on 11 challenge-focused items, including items on “time constraints” and “not enough funds.” Teachers reported on the frequency of grouping (whole-group, small-group, individual, child-selected) and literacy and math activities. Classroom quality was observed using the CLASS Observational System. Children’s learning was directly assessed in fall and spring using the Woodcock-Johnson Letter-Word and Spelling subscales, and a project-generated math assessment. Regression models with longitudinal weights were used to predict teacher practices, classroom quality, and children’s spring outcomes from center leadership and challenges. All models included covariates at the center- and classroom-level. Models predicting child outcomes also included child-level covariates and their fall assessment scores.



Results
Our results predicting teacher-reported activities revealed no significant findings, although center leadership was marginally associated with a greater number of both literacy and math activities in the classroom (Table 1). Our results predicting classroom quality also showed no significant findings, although center director challenges was marginally associated with lower scores on the CLASS instructional quality subscale. However, our models predicting children’s learning showed that center leadership predicted greater gains on all three child outcomes. Our discussion will highlight the practical implications of these findings as well as potential alternative mechanisms linking center-level processes to preschool children’s learning.

Author

• Kelly M Purtell, Ohio State University
  Presenting Author