Technology has been brought into the educational milieu changing the way teachers and parents communicate. It allows teachers and parents to communicate conveniently while also facilitating the sharing of a variety of media (i.e., photos or video). Photos paint a visual picture of learning in the classroom, allowing families a glimpse into their…

The most effective way to improve the performance of students is to improve the practice of their teachers (McLeskey & Brownell, 2015). Teachers must provide highly effective, research-based instruction responsive to the unique needs of students with disabilities for quality outcomes to occur. High-Leverage Practices (HLPs) were developed by…

The author has been working for over four decades in the field of early childhood education (ECE). She is currently entering her fifth year as an early childhood teacher educator with the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UHM) College of Education. In her role, the author is teaching future professionals in a dual degree program with a preschool…

Decades of research have shown how play is a major vehicle for young children's development and learning. However, since the 1990's with greater emphasis on higher academic standards and accountability in the U.S. educational system, kindergarten teachers felt pressured to reduce or eliminate play for more didactic instruction and mandated…

During a time of historic COVID-related federal investment in child care and early education, states are working to leverage this opportunity to provide significant relief and recovery to providers and families. This fact sheet highlights the actions that select states have implemented to make the most of this critical time and opportunity. As…

In the past decade, various stakeholders in the public and private sectors in Hawai'i have sought to increase the state's investment in child care and early learning programs. A new Executive Office of Early Learning was established in June 2012 to build a statewide early childhood development and learning system. The state also established a…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how general education teachers of grades K-6 describe their experiences modeling social acceptance of students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. The overarching research question was as follows: How do general education teachers of grades K-6 describe their experiences…

This study investigated the influence of professional development on 20 preschool teachers' use of instructional conversations in classrooms for 2- to 5-year-old children. Instructional conversation is a small group discussion that builds on children's prior knowledge to assess and assist conceptual understanding. Over a 3-year period, the…

The "Preschool Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale" (PreBERS) is a standardized, norm-referenced instrument that assesses emotional and behavioral strengths of preschool children. This study investigated whether the PreBERS four-factor structure (i.e., emotional regulation, school readiness, social confidence, and family involvement)…

Early childhood teachers are rightly concerned with implementing a system that was, at least in the initial stages, designed with a different set of teachers in mind--teachers of older students who have standardized achievement data. In most states, policy, practices, and guidance for early childhood teachers are just now being developed or…

Although professional development is an important means of improving both teachers' skills and student outcomes, there is a dearth of high quality empirical research on the efficacy of such efforts. The efficacy of the Challenging Behavior Process was assessed using a mixed method approach which included the use of pre-, post-, and follow-up…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the impact upon a group of ten early childhood inservice educators of a collaborative professional development course in early literacy development presented using the tools of narrative and reflection. The study considered impact in terms of teachers' beliefs, values, practice, and sense of…