Consistent, sensitive caregiving across home and childcare contexts supports optimal development. In this paper, we share the story of the development of Hearts and Minds on Babies (HMB) for Early Head Start (EHS) administrators, teachers, and parents. HMB was designed to support caregiver reflective functioning and sensitivity and reduce…

Research shows that effective and high-quality instructional coaching that targets teacher-child interactions can improve the classroom quality, increase teacher job satisfaction, reduce attrition, and even improve young children's development, such as social emotional development, and literacy skills. Coaches likely develop and sharpen their…

Early childhood (EC) educator qualifications shape the quality of education/care provided to children. Although past research demonstrates that EC educator qualifications are lower than recommended by research, little is known about how qualification attainment differs at the state level where policy change primarily occurs. Using…

This study aimed to investigate the online teaching experiences of preservice teachers during the pandemic. Due to COVID-19, preservice teachers were required to work with children and families remotely to gain practicum experiences. Three preservice teachers' work (family reflection papers, lesson reflection papers, video recordings of teaching,…

Previous research has highlighted the need to improve teacher education programs with the intent of preparing infant-toddler professionals as working with infants-toddlers and families requires a unique skill set. The following mixed methods research study supported these assertions by examining the early childhood education (ECE) undergraduate…

The present study investigated how 380 early childhood pre-service teachers perceived equity in science education and how they planned to incorporate their equity concept into their future science teaching practices. An inductive thematic analysis of the data collected indicated that the majority of pre-service teachers harboured misconceptions…

Project approach allows early childhood teachers to use both child-initiated and teacher-facilitated instructional methods. This article describes what we learned from a study focused on project approach professional development for early childhood teachers who later served as mentor teachers during a field experience for an introductory methods…

Shifting realities across the world have emphasized the need to change early childhood systems thinking. Specifically, a quality early childhood workforce was in high demand before the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to be in demand until sustainable recruitment and retention efforts are achieved. Encouraging more professionals to enter and…

Autistic children present with unique challenges that may be associated with challenges during the kindergarten transition process. While teachers endorse transition to kindergarten practices as important, implementation of effective transition practices is inconsistent. One possible reason is limited training during pre-service education;…

There is a legal and ethical imperative to provide increased access to community-based settings for young children with disabilities. One way to address that is through Special Education itinerant teaching. Our systematic literature review identifies primary interventionists, delivery locations, outcomes of interventions and an assessment of the…

Preparation of early childhood special educators, including early interventionists, includes knowledge and application of different practices than either early childhood generally or school-age special education. Several organizations, including the Division of Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children, have identified relevant…

Demands placed on early childhood teacher development, teacher candidates, and professionals who prepare future teachers, continue to increase. Although inquiry addresses high-stakes teacher development, research on programs in early childhood professional development schools as a pathway to mediate the increased demand is needed. The purpose of…

The purpose of this article is to describe what has been learned over the past 20 years of research on general early childhood preservice teachers' attitudes toward inclusion. An extensive literature review was conducted to critically examine the purposes that guided the reviewed studies, the methods used to measure preservice teachers' attitudes…

The purpose of the study was to investigate prospective early childhood teachers' conceptions of teaching science, and thus identify their strategies for enabling their future pre-K to 3rd grade students' construction of science content. For the purpose of this study, we subscribed to the view of conceptions of teaching as having dimensions and…

Play is a developmentally appropriate practice for young children and enhances children's holistic development. However, recent educational policies and pressure to focus on academic goals and high-stakes testing have resulted in an emphasis on teacher-directed instruction, minimizing play-based child directed experiences in kindergarten…