This study uses longitudinal data to follow a cohort (N = 4,465) of all early childhood education teachers working in publicly funded, center-based settings in Louisiana over a 3-year period. We present the proportion of teachers still at their sites across six time points between 2016 and 2019, providing the first statewide, longitudinal…

The purpose of this study is to describe the use of recorded music in child care centers during naptime. Using a cross-sectional survey design, administrators and teachers from 62 child care centers in Louisiana responded to an online questionnaire designed to gather information about children's sleep habits and teacher perceptions of music…

The pandemic hit the already vulnerable early childhood education (ECE) workforce especially hard, causing almost 40 percent of child care providers to shut their doors and many teachers to lose their jobs. In 2021, enrollment in state-funded preschool also dropped for the first time in 20 years--a nearly 20 percent decline that erased a decade of…

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…

Most children in the U.S. spend time in some form of early childhood education (ECE) program prior to entering kindergarten. In fact, children spend an average of 25 hours per week in nonparental care, including center-based care and informal family, friend and neighbor care. Children develop a foundation for learning during these early years, so…

New evidence at the intersection of neurobiology, developmental science, and economics carries vast implications for how the responsibilities, skills, and qualities of children's early childhood teachers are thought about: (1) their influence on early brain and behavioral development; (2) their responsibility for managing many children's first…

This summary describes how an early childhood workforce investment credit, modeled after the Louisiana school readiness tax credit, rewards professional development for child care providers and can foster the quality early childhood education (ECE) workforce necessary to promote children's learning and school readiness. Quality child care matters…

This study examined seven Louisiana kindergarten immersion teachers' practices to evaluate students' oral target language production and compare the oral production elicited when different instructional practices were used over a single semester. Three rounds of three 20-minute observations in three different contexts--circle time, direct…

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity of teacher ratings for screening children's language skills. Teacher ratings were measured through the use of two tools, the "Children's Communication Checklist-2" (CCC-2; Bishop, 2006) and the "Teacher Rating of Oral Language and Literacy" (TROLL; Dickinson, McCabe, &…

The study investigated a relationship between National Board certification and perceived use of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP). A self-developed survey, the Early-childhood Teacher Inventory of Practices, was e-mailed to participants. Participants included 246 non-National Board-certified (non-NBCT) and 135 National Board-certified…

Reflecting the growing momentum in support of quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) as a key strategy to improve early care and education quality, significant amounts of public dollars have been devoted to their development and implementation. In this brief, the authors report on their investigation of both quality rating and improvement…

"Looking Closer" is the eighth biennial report to SREB states on their progress in meeting SREB's Challenge to Lead goals for education. Each customized state report documents progress on both measurable outcomes and state policies. Through effective policy implementation, the goals can help states drive improvements in student…

Over the course of the past decade, the state of Louisiana has developed several documents to articulate expectations for children's learning and development and provide guidance for early childhood educators. The experiences and skills that children develop during the early years are critically important to their success later in school. What…

This article describes the independent reading and research project of an early childhood education graduate student who taught in a school district heavily impacted by Hurricane Katrina. She surveyed a sample of kindergarten teachers in the district to determine how they were responding in the aftermath of Katrina. The voices of teachers reflect…

This article describes how early childhood teacher education faculty at one university responded in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and used the disaster to enhance their undergraduate and graduate programs. They explain how they modeled developmentally appropriate practices while responding to community needs. Four companion articles…