Championing success: Business organizations for early childhood investments
A study of the early childhood policy and advocacy efforts of formal business membership organizations, based on survey responses from 104 local chambers of commerce and from 121 state business roundtables, state chambers of commerce, and city chambers of commerce
Reports & Papers
Can quality improvement system improve childcare site performance in school readiness?
A comparison of growth in children's school readiness over three years in child care sites using a Quality Improvement System (QIS) versus non-QIS sites, based on data from 79 children in 46 sites in Palm Beach County, Florida
Reports & Papers
Development and validation of a preschool teachers' attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching questionnaire
Little is known about preschool teachers' attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching, in part, because the field lacks valid and reliable measures of these teacher-related factors. To address this need, the current study developed and validated a rating scale (P-TABS) using a statewide sample of Head Start teachers (N = 507). A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted. Generalizability and invariance of the final factor solution was examined across important subgroups of the standardization sample (i.e., teacher ethnicity, education level, and years of teaching experience). Three distinct factors were identified (Teacher Comfort, Child Benefit, and Challenges), with strong evidence for validity found for the first two factors. The P-TABS expands the availability of reliable and valid assessment tools for measuring preschool teachers' attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching and for examining how these teacher-related factors affect classroom practices and student outcomes. (author abstract)
Reports & Papers
Early childhood education leadership development compendium: A view of the current landscape
A study of the characteristics of programs that support leadership development in the early childhood education field, based on survey responses from 55 leadership development programs
Reports & Papers
Early Learning Coalition of Duval report 2011-12
An examination of the school readiness skills and gains of children who attend early care and learning centers that participate in Guiding Stars of Duval, an initiative to improve the quality of early learning and care services in Jacksonville, Florida, based on pre- and posttest assessments of participants and on public school kindergarten readiness administrative data
Reports & Papers
Enhancing children's learning in family childcare homes: 2011-12 annual report
A study of the school readiness and early literacy achievement gains of children attending family child care homes that participated in the pilot implementation of a set of supplemental literacy-focused instructional units, based on pre- and post-program assessments for 48 children in 16 family child care homes
Reports & Papers
Estimates of child care eligibility and receipt for fiscal year 2009
An examination of children's eligibility for and receipt of federal child care subsidies under federal parameters and state-defined rules
Reports & Papers
Evaluating the components of an emergent literacy intervention for preschool children at risk for reading difficulties
A study of the effects of interventions designed to promote the development of emergent literacy skills with a sample of preschool children at high risk for later problems in reading, with an analysis of the additional effects of combining dialogic reading with a phonological awareness intervention, based on data from 324 preschoolers from low income backgrounds, recruited from 13 Head Start centers and Title I preschools in a local school district in northern Florida
Reports & Papers
Inattention, hyperactivity, and emergent literacy: Different facets of inattention relate uniquely to preschoolers' reading-related skills
Although extant studies indicate that there is a strong association between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and reading ability in elementary school children, knowledge regarding the relation between inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive behaviors and emergent literacy in preschool children is less established. This study examined the unique and overlapping relations between measures that assess inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity and emergent literacy skills in preschool children. Participants included 204 preschool children (M age = 56 months, 50.9% female, 79.8% European American). Behavioral rating scales were completed by teachers, and the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and the Test of Preschool Early Literacy were completed by the preschoolers. Across measures, inattention was a unique correlate of emergent literacy skills, whereas hyperactivity/impulsivity was not. Both rating scales and the CPT indices of inattention were uniquely associated with emergent literacy skills. These results suggest that these measures are assessing different manifestations of inattention that are both unique correlates of early reading skills. (author abstract)
Reports & Papers
Informal numeracy skills: The structure and relations among numbering, relations, and arithmetic operations in preschool
An examination of both the structure and relationships among three numeracy skill domains--numbering, relations, and arithmetic operations, based on data from 393 children from 45 public and private early care and education centers serving children from families with low to middle socioeconomic statuses living in two counties in northern Florida
Reports & Papers
Psychometric evaluation of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire-Very Short Form in preschool children using parent and teacher report
Temperament is a developmentally important construct, hierarchically comprised of several lower-order dimensions subsumed under effortful control, negative affectivity, and surgency. The Children's Behavior Questionnaire-Very Short Form (CBQ-VSF) was developed as a brief measure of the higher-order factors of temperament to aid researchers in understanding the relation between these factors and other developmentally important constructs. In this study, we examined the psychometric properties of the CBQ-VSF in preschool children (N = 277) using teachers and parents as informants. Several dimensions of temperament emerged independently of the three higher-order factors. Comparing the extracted factors to other measures of temperament revealed limited convergent and discriminant validity. Further, similar teacher and parent report factors did not correlate. Based on these findings, it is suggested that the CBQ-VSF be refined to better reflect core dimensions that comprise the higher-order factors. (author abstract)
Reports & Papers
The state of preschool 2012: State preschool yearbook
An annual review of access to, quality standards in, and resources devoted to state-funded preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-old children in all 50 states and the District of Columbia during the 2011-2012 program year, based on a survey of administrators of state-funded preschool programs
Reports & Papers
Trends in child care center licensing regulations and policies for 2011
An analysis of state child care center licensing requirements and policies, including those related to staffing, child-adult ratios, health and nutrition, inspections, monitoring, and enforcement, based on a survey of state child care licensing agencies and a compilation of state licensing requirements
Reports & Papers
Trends in family child care home licensing requirements and policies for 2011
An analysis of state family child care home licensing requirements and policies, including those related to staffing, group size, health and nutrition, inspections, monitoring, and enforcement, based on a survey of state child care licensing agencies and a compilation of state licensing requirements
Reports & Papers
Trends in group child care home licensing regulations and policies for 2011
An analysis of state group child care home licensing requirements and policies, including those related to staffing, group size, health and nutrition, inspections, monitoring, and enforcement, based on a survey of state child care licensing agencies and a compilation of state licensing requirements
Reports & Papers
Voices of the minority: Japanese immigrant mothers' perceptions of preschools in the United States
Japanese immigrants have been living in the United States for nearly 150 years. Yet, despite the continued presence of this population, there is not a lot of research to suggest why Japanese families have not become more active participants in preschools across the United States (US). In an attempt to understand this phenomenon, this paper examined the voices of nine Japanese immigrant mothers living in the US and articulates their major concerns and ideas; it also provides suggestions to early childhood professionals regarding these insights. Fundamental to this study is the belief that both Japanese parents and preschool teachers need to make a sincere effort to learn and employ communicative strategies and to acquire fundamental knowledge for building effective relationships. Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews and conducted over 12 months of fieldwork. Implications for early childhood professionals are explicated and briefly discussed. (author abstract)
Reports & Papers
We can do better: Child Care Aware of America's ranking of state child care center regulations and oversight: 2013 update
A review of program requirements and oversight in state child care center licensing regulations, based on an analysis of state child care licensing regulations and a survey of child care licensing directors in each state, the District of Columbia, and at the United States Department of Defense
Reports & Papers
