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

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

High-quality preschool promotes school readiness and success for all children (Yoshikawa et al., 2013). The purpose of this session is to explore ECE classroom quality through the lens of the various professional roles involved in supporting children’s learning: directors, teachers, and assistant teachers. Numerous studies have documented the importance of principals in shaping school-level success and overall quality (Griffith, 2004), yet center-level characteristics, such as those of the center director, are often overlooked. Similarly, few research studies have focused on the role of assistant teachers in the classroom, and how they contribute to overall classroom quality. Teacher quality and kindergarten transition practices are both positively associated with children’s early outcomes (e.g., Ahtola et al., 2011; Harris & Sass, 2011), but few studies have focused on practices of special education teachers to support positive child outcomes for children with disabilities.

The first paper in this session will discuss the role of center-level leadership and center director challenges as they relate to the quality of the ECE classroom, evaluated via teacher’s perceptions and classroom quality measures, and measured child outcomes. The second paper in this session will explore how special education teacher characteristics and Kindergarten transition practices relate to academic and social outcomes for children with disabilities. The final paper will take a deep dive into assistant teacher practice by exploring how assistant teacher quality and characteristics compare with that of the lead teacher; this presentation will conclude with three distinct implications for the role of the assistant teacher.

Sub Unit

• School Readiness/Childcare

Chair

• Sara C Vecchiotti, FCD

Discussant

• Jaime Puccioni, State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany)

Individual Presentations

• The Role of Center Directors in Producing High Quality Preschool Experiences for Young Children - Presenting Author: Kelly M Purtell, Ohio State University

• The Role of Early Childhood Teacher Qualifications and Kindergarten Transition Practices for Young Children with Disabilities - Presenting Author: North Cooc, University of Texas at Austin

• The Other Teachers in the Room: Contributions of Assistant Teachers in Early Childhood Classrooms - Presenting Author: Jennifer Wallace Jacoby, Mount Holyoke College