We determined that significant differences existed between assessment scores of at-risk children taught by assistant teachers with different levels of education using standardized assessments (Teaching Strategies GOLD [TSG] and Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening [PALS]). A 1-way MANOVA indicated that assistant teachers' level of education…

IOE (Institute of Education), UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (University College London, UK) has a long tradition of engagement with schools to support young children's learning and co-produce knowledge through research-practice partnerships. From the first demonstration schools in the early 1900s to engagement with contemporary research…

Assistant teachers play an important role in Head Start and other early care and education (ECE) programs. This study found that assistant teachers contribute to classroom quality in the program's day-to-day implementation. Thirty-eight assistant-lead teaching teams from Head Start preschool classrooms across 14 Head Start centers within the…

The objective of this project was to develop and pilot a small-scale professional development program that incorporated substantial group and one-on-one mentoring aimed at preparing rurally based preschool teacher assistants to earn the Child Development Associate (CDA) credential. Using a framework that emphasized the relational, developmental,…

Research Findings: The current project examined the unique and interactive relations of child effortful control and teacher-child relationships to low-income preschoolers' socioemotional adjustment. One hundred and forty Head Start children (77 boys and 63 girls), their parents, lead teachers, and teacher assistants participated in this study.…

Head Start teachers and their aides (n = 24) were assigned to either the experimental or active control treatment in this preliminary investigation on the effects of Child Teacher Relationship Training (CTRT) on 52 disadvantaged preschool children identified with behavioral problems. CTRT is based on the principles and procedures of Child Parent…

The purpose of the current study was to test the efficacy of a supplemental phonological awareness focused intervention delivered by community-based paraeducators with preschool children (M = 4.73 years) in eight Head Start classrooms in the rural Midwest. Participating children were randomly assigned to small groups within classrooms, which were…

Pasadena City College's Institute for Teacher Aides is a New Careers project to upgrade indigenous nonprofessionals in antipoverty agencies for career-ladder employment as bilingual aides in inner-city/ghetto schools of Greater Los Angeles. Its operating grant, under the Education Professions Development Act, is for two sessions (summer and fall…

There has been much policy interest on the theme of children's services in recent years. For example, the 1998 National Child Strategy explicitly aims to ensure good quality, affordable childcare for children aged 0 to 14 in every neighbourhood, including both formal childcare and support for informal arrangements. The sector has a changed a lot…

Inner-city elementary parochial schools in Oakland, California are utilizing the services of volunteers in providing the individual attention needed by children who are slow learners. (DB)

Approximately 400 black children from the inner city are bused to West Hartford suburban schools. (Author)

Suggestions for expanding and improving the volunteer participation in all local Head Start programs are provided in this manual. The primary aims of the volunteer programs are to: (1) provide additional staff in all areas of the program, thus increasing the effectiveness of the paid staff; (2) give interested local citizens, including parents of…

After training in a direct instructional program can teacher aides teach cognitive skills in reading and arithmetic as competently as do classroom teachers who have been similarly trained? The subjects in this investigation were part of the Englemann-Becker Follow Through Program, an academic program for disadvantaged children in the early…

The Cooperative School and College Ability Test (SCAT) was found to be the best overall predictor of cumulative grade point average and success in professional education courses. (MM)

This document reports a feasibility study of state efforts in training teachers for the disadvantaged, a four-state project designed to (1) identify ways that training funds and other resources could be used more effectively in the improvement of preservice and inservice teacher education, (2) create a state structure or pattern of relationships…