This qualitative study evaluated the belief systems and professional practice of program graduates of an early childhood special education teacher preparation program regarding collaboration with families of children with disabilities. Eleven graduates were interviewed over the course of a school year to identify perceived challenges to their…

Since the 1980s in New Zealand, the kindergarten service, once called the "flagship" within early childhood education, has changed in reaction to the need for "diversity" and "responsiveness" to its communities and restructured government requirements. This paper draws on life-history interviews with a small group of…

Artist-in-residence programs frequently act as professional development initiatives for teachers. Little understanding of the relational nature of artist-teacher learning exists. In this article, we discuss "Learning Through The Arts"[TM], describing conflicting expectations as artists and teachers learn from each other, and explore the…

Children enter kindergarten in the United States with large differences in their background knowledge, vocabulary, and early literacy experiences. There is a strong relationship between language development during the early years and reading ability in the primary grade and teachers must understand the importance of developing vocabulary and its…

This article provides a conceptualization for including African and African American history in early childhood classrooms. An example of a kindergarten teacher's efforts to counter negative depictions and frequently omitted information in her classroom is shared. While many early childhood educators avoid discussions of history because the…

Early identification of social-emotional behavioral problems in infants and preschoolers is critical. Nine parent-report and caregiver/teacher-report instruments measuring preschool social-emotional behavioral problems and strengths are reviewed. Advantages to the use of parent-report and caregiver/teacher-report instruments are that they are easy…

Robust leadership is increasingly recognised as a critical element of healthy professions, yet some research suggests that early childhood practitioners do not readily identify with the concept of leadership. This article explores some dimensions of leadership in early childhood and how it is understood and practised in Australian early childhood…

This study examines response rates for mixed-mode survey implementation involving mail and e-mail/Web components. Using Dillman's Tailored Design Method, 1,500 participants were sent a survey either (a) via mail with a follow-up contact via e-mail that directed them to a Web-based questionnaire or (b) via e-mail that directed them to a Web-based…

This study evaluated an early childhood socio-emotional programme aimed at promoting preschooler's social skills and reducing behaviour problems. The Peace Education Foundation (PEF) socio-emotional development programme was provided in English and Spanish to preschool teachers, parents and children in Miami, Florida. The programme instructs…

The study assessed the nature of teacher-child interactions in early childhood classrooms in India, from the teachers' and parents' perspectives. Specifically, the impact of teacher training, satisfaction with training and job, years of experience, and class size on the teacher-child interactions were examined. Sixty-five preschool teachers and…

This study describes pre-kindergarten teachers' use of kindergarten transition practices and examined the extent to which these practices were associated with kindergarten teachers' judgments of children's social, self-regulatory, and academic skills upon their entry into kindergarten. Participants were 722 children from 214 pre-kindergarten…

Research Findings: This study investigated the complexity of teacher questions in 14 preschool classrooms serving economically disadvantaged 4-year-olds. The purposes were to explore the frequency and complexity of teacher questions and to determine the extent to which question types varied for different classroom contexts. Using teacher…

The aim of the study was to examine teachers' didactic projects in connection with constructing co-narratives with very young children during mealtimes. As a genre, co-narrative practice has a special quality for didactic work with children from one to three years old. Yet it is not always common in preschools for the teachers to talk to children…

The issue of the preparation of effective teachers becomes more critical for teachers of early childhood programs. It has been hypothesized that better program quality depends on better-educated teachers. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the importance of a high level of education for all early childhood education teachers. This…

The primary purpose of this article is to describe the development and utility of the Social Interaction Practices for the Preschool Years (SIPPY) questionnaire. The SIPPY is a tool designed to assess teachers' judgments of the acceptability and feasibility, as well as their current use, of literature-supported strategies for promoting the…