Limited research exists on the factors that contribute to community college students' development of self-efficacy (SE) while serving as preservice teachers (PSTs) during their early childhood education (ECE) practicum. This lack of research is concerning because educators who have high SE enhance the educational well-being of all children. The…

Community colleges have a significant role in preparing early childhood educators who will likely one day teach in inclusive classrooms. Inclusive education models educate children with disabilities alongside their non-disabled peers, promoting acceptance, decreasing discrimination, and fostering a society in which everyone lives and works…

Objective/Research Question: Community college coursework is a crucial entry point for early childhood professionals seeking to advance their careers in education. In this study, we examine how degree candidates at a small community college experienced the shift to online learning and their reasons for persistence in college during the pandemic.…

In this paper, an early childhood teacher educator and researcher describes the experience of facilitating and enacting a practice-focused course design for preservice early childhood teachers. The course utilized video analysis, practice records, rehearsal pedagogies and a focus on teacher-child interactions. The author reflects on the structure…

The present phenomenographic research aimed to explore the qualitatively different ways early childhood educators experienced career pathway transitions from a Child Development Associate credential to an associate degree program. I applied Schlossberg's Transition Theory as a data collection and analysis framework. I collected narratives from…

The purpose of this mixed methods action research study was to determine the effectiveness of a gender-responsive early childhood teaching workshop for community college practicum students. The problem addressed in this research is a lack of competency (knowledge, skills, and behaviors that support positive gender identity development in young…

Researchers have found high-quality early childhood teachers are crucial to high-quality programs for young children. Despite this, there is a significant need for more highly qualified teachers in a southwestern state. The purpose of the qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of early childhood education (ECE) systems partners in one…

This work explores mentoring triad relationships between pre-service teachers, school-based cooperating teachers, and professors at a community college. Using cultural historical activity theory, we provide a retrospective analysis of the factors influencing the success of the mentoring relationships. We assessed 60 mentoring triads with a rubric…

This qualitative case study examined the experiences of 10 current and former students enrolled in an early childhood education teacher preparation program (ECETPP) at a Latine-serving 2-year community college in southern California. The study used Richard Valencia's deficit thinking framework as the theoretical lens to explicate ways in which…

Historically, in the USA context child development content knowledge has been one of the main emphases of early childhood teacher education programs, as it is theorized that teachers need strong content knowledge if they are to teach well. Teachers gain knowledge as they move through the degree ladder, from Child Development Associate to…

This study highlights a critical case that can serve as a programmatic and conceptual model for institutional partnerships seeking to diversify the early childhood education (ECE) teaching profession with "homegrown" Latinx teachers. The case study explored the experiences of Latinx students in an ECE program at a regional, public 4-year…

This study provides a comparative analysis of the pre-service education system for preschool educators in China and the United States. Based on collected data and materials (literature, policy documents, and statistical data), we compare two areas of pre-service training: (1) the formal system; (2) the informal system. In the formal system, most…

High-quality early childhood education (ECE) begins with well-prepared, highly qualified educators. This brief offers practitioners and policymakers an opportunity to learn from promising programs that recruit and prepare racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse cohorts of educators to teach in programs serving children birth…

A number of states are considering policy proposals to update credential or degree requirements for early educators. Practitioners, policy experts, and researchers have expressed concern, however, that well-intentioned policies to raise educator qualifications without sufficient supports may have negative consequences for the adequacy; stability;…

The expansion of early childhood education programming has heightened the focus on teachers' educational preparation and its role in providing high-quality services for young children. The interest in teachers' education is especially relevant in early childhood since differentiated levels of preparation are commonly used in quality rating and…