ERIC Number: ED612691
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 10
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Organizing Early Education for Improvement: Voices from the Field on Essential Supports
Pacchiano, Debra M.; Wagner, Maureen R.; Lewandowski, Holly
Ounce of Prevention Fund
Young children are gaining access to and enrolling in preschool programs across the country in increasing numbers. Unfortunately, the quality of these programs varies tremendously. The highest quality programs disproportionately serve children from the most advantaged homes. By contrast, lower quality and less effective programs disproportionately serve children from under-resourced communities--the very children who stand to benefit most from top-notch early childhood education. A growing body of research demonstrates that strengthening the organizational climate and conditions surrounding classroom practice and family engagement offers an effective method for increasing quality. The authors spent time observing early childhood education programs, some that were high functioning and some that were not. They talked with leaders, teachers, staff, and families about what supported them in, or hindered them from, implementing higher quality teaching and positively impacting children's learning. Differences in their organizational climates and conditions were unmistakable. Simply put, high-performing sites had organizational contexts far more supportive of teaching, learning, and family engagement than sites that were not high performing. In this report, the authors describe those strong organizational contexts and how they empower leaders, teachers, and families to aspire to and realize higher quality practice and better outcomes for young children.
Descriptors: Preschool Education, Educational Quality, Program Effectiveness, Disadvantaged, Educational Resources, Social Differences, Organizational Climate, Program Evaluation, Administrator Attitudes, Teacher Attitudes, Family Involvement, Teaching Methods, Learning Processes, Educational Environment, Outcomes of Education, Parent Attitudes, Teacher Collaboration, Preschool Teachers, Leadership Effectiveness, Educational Improvement
Ounce of Prevention Fund. 33 West Monroe Street Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60603. Tel: 312-922-3863; e-mail: info@theounce.org; Web site: http://www.theounce.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Ounce of Prevention Fund; National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A