This dissertation examines the relationship between teacher educational background, teacher experience, and student achievement in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. The first essay of this dissertation, "Effects of Teacher Degree Level, Coursework, and Certification on Student Achievement in Math and Reading in Kindergarten," used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) dataset to examine how teacher degree level, coursework, and certification impact kindergarten students reading and math skills. This essay employs OLS regression and study fixed-effects models and finds no effects of advanced degrees, but positive impacts of increased child development courses in reading and positive impacts of math course taking on reading and elementary education certification on math. The second essay, "The Relationship Between Teacher Degree Level, Experience, and Student Achievement in Kindergarten and First Grade," uses the ECLS-K data and OLS regression with controls to explore the relationship between degree level, experience, and student achievement in kindergarten and first grade. This essay finds no impacts of teachers with master's degrees or higher, but positive impacts of teacher experience on reading and math achievement growth over the first two years of formal schooling. Additionally, having consecutive, experienced teachers provides students an even bigger boost in test score growth. The third essay, "Degree Level of Early Childhood Education Staff and Children's Cognitive and Achievement Outcomes," uses a meta-analytic database of early childhood education (ECE) programs and interventions compiled for the National Forum on Early Childhood Policies and Programs to investigate the relationship between the degree level of ECE staff and child cognitive and achievement outcomes for children from birth through age five. This essay finds positive, but statistically insignificant effects of having a high percentage of staff with bachelor's degrees compared with associate's degrees, and no effects of having a high percentage of staff with graduate degrees. These three essays help policymakers and administrators gain a clearer picture of how teacher educational background and experience impact children's achievement at a formative time in their lives. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]