This study examined selected parameters of two newly developed measures called AEPS-3 Ready-Set and Ready-Set Family Assessment of Children's Skills (FACS). Ready-Set is a school readiness measure designed to gather information from teachers or other professionals on children's kindergarten school readiness skills across important developmental…

Preschool children naturally display competitive behavioral patterns. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the association between preschool children's regulation (regulatory and control components) and competitive behaviors (task-oriented and other-referenced). A total of 260 preschool children (47.7% girls) ranging in age from 49…

This article reports findings from a study to investigate the efficacy beliefs, experiences, and instructional practices of pre-kindergarten (pre-k) teachers from a high-need district who engaged in collaborative professional learning experiences provided by a partner university. The study also examined language and literacy instruction for…

Early childhood teachers play a central role in children's learning and development. Yet, they encounter stressors that can negatively impact their well-being, relationships with children, and, ultimately, job retention. To inform efforts to support early childhood teachers' work-related well-being, the current study examines positive factors that…

Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations, often due to the emotional investment of managing and caring for a classroom of students. In addition to environmental stressors, teacher wellbeing is impacted by relationships with students. While the relation between challenging student behaviors and adverse outcomes for both teachers and…

Co-teaching has been proposed as a meaningful method in addressing the challenges that can accompany classroom diversity. In the present study teachers' attitudes were investigated regarding co-teaching and the inclusion of students with disabilities in general classes. A total of 104 early childhood educators responded to a questionnaire (51.9%…

Using the nationally representative Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2014 (FACES 2014), this study examined the associations of Head Start children's behavioral challenges with teachers' well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms, job commitment) and intent to leave, controlling for teacher characteristics. We sought to explore the direct…

The promotion of Social emotional learning (SEL) in elementary schools has increased; however, little is known about early childhood teachers' perceptions about the effectiveness of their elementary school's approach to SEL. The present study used mixed methods methodology to explore the perceptions of 1154 preschool through second grade teachers…

Preschool children's relationships with their teachers play an important role in their learning and development. Despite this importance, extant research mostly relies on teachers' perceptions about the relationships with children limiting our understanding of the bidirectional nature of these relationships. The present study aimed to explore…

A rich literature describes the efficacy of coaching programs for early care and education (ECE) teachers. ECE teachers can provide unique insights into the coaching process and several studies have described the coaching experience from the perspective of ECE teachers serving preschool-age children. However, limited data are available to describe…

Risky play is defined as thrilling and challenging forms of play that have the potential for physical injury and has been linked to developmental and health benefits for children in the early years. Currently, in Western contexts, children's opportunities for risky play is decreasing. Social factors such as practitioner and parental attitudes and…

Literacy coaching, an effective professional development strategy for early childhood teachers, is a respected component in educational reform initiatives. This qualitative case study explored and described interactive processes between literacy coaches (n = 5) and Kindergarten teachers (n = 6). This study focused on how established kindergarten…

This study examined infant educators' conceptions of infant language development and approaches to supporting the development. The phenomenographic analyses of interviews with 59 educators identified five and six hierarchically related conceptions and approaches respectively. The conceptions were broadly distinguished as deep or surface…

Character strengths improve performance and well-being but are rarely studied among early childhood educators. This qualitative study describes how in-service early childhood educators (n = 17, United States) resolved workplace challenges following a character strength application intervention. During professional development, teachers learned to…

Many recent articles have focused on reading instruction in kindergarten, but few have solicited the beliefs of the experts--kindergarten teachers. This study examined California teachers' perceptions of teaching reading to kindergarten students. Kindergarten teachers from northern to southern California were surveyed (N = 103). Teachers reported…