Teacher Beliefs and Perceptions about Preschool

Teacher Beliefs and Perceptions about Preschool PDF Author: Tonya Jackson Davis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages : 139

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Book Description
The purpose of the study was to examine teacher perceptions and teacher characteristics about bullying and to see how distinctions in these variables relate or affect teacher attitudes, when responding to bullying situations in preschool classrooms. The researcher was also interested in investigating how other variables such as preschool program type (i.e., community-based/center models or non-community/school-based models) and race impacted teacher perception when responding to preschool bullying scenarios. Survey data were collected from 133 preschool teachers working in a nonprofit agency serving preschool children across a 13 county area in one state. The study used the Bullying Attitudes Questionnaire-Modified-Revised (BAQ-M Revised; Davis, Burnham, & Mills, 2015). The revised measure was based on Yoon and Kerber's (2003) questionnaire referred to as the Bullying Attitudes Questionnaire Modified (BAQ-M, 2003). The revised measure maintained the original six vignettes depicting three types of bullying: physical, social, and relational bullying. The revision to the instrument involved the creation of additional questions after each vignette to improve the content validity of scale constructs (i.e., Seriousness, Empathy, and Response). Teacher self-perceptions about classroom behavior management was measured using the Efficacy in Classroom Management subscale of the Teachers Sense of Efficacy Scale Short Form (TSES; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2001). ANOVAS were used to analyze the first research question. Significant differences were found between Black and White teachers on the construct of Empathy based upon race. Specifically, Black teachers scored significantly higher on the construct of Empathy. A two-way ANOVA tested the independent variables of race and setting on the construct of Seriousness. Results of the ANOVA indicated that there were significant differences in race. Regression models were used to analyze the second research question. The results of a four-predictor model comprised on Seriousness, Empathy, Response, and Efficacy in Classroom Management was significant. However, the classroom management subscale of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy) was not found to be a significant predictor in the model.

Teacher Beliefs and Perceptions about Preschool

Teacher Beliefs and Perceptions about Preschool PDF Author: Tonya Jackson Davis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages : 139

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Book Description
The purpose of the study was to examine teacher perceptions and teacher characteristics about bullying and to see how distinctions in these variables relate or affect teacher attitudes, when responding to bullying situations in preschool classrooms. The researcher was also interested in investigating how other variables such as preschool program type (i.e., community-based/center models or non-community/school-based models) and race impacted teacher perception when responding to preschool bullying scenarios. Survey data were collected from 133 preschool teachers working in a nonprofit agency serving preschool children across a 13 county area in one state. The study used the Bullying Attitudes Questionnaire-Modified-Revised (BAQ-M Revised; Davis, Burnham, & Mills, 2015). The revised measure was based on Yoon and Kerber's (2003) questionnaire referred to as the Bullying Attitudes Questionnaire Modified (BAQ-M, 2003). The revised measure maintained the original six vignettes depicting three types of bullying: physical, social, and relational bullying. The revision to the instrument involved the creation of additional questions after each vignette to improve the content validity of scale constructs (i.e., Seriousness, Empathy, and Response). Teacher self-perceptions about classroom behavior management was measured using the Efficacy in Classroom Management subscale of the Teachers Sense of Efficacy Scale Short Form (TSES; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2001). ANOVAS were used to analyze the first research question. Significant differences were found between Black and White teachers on the construct of Empathy based upon race. Specifically, Black teachers scored significantly higher on the construct of Empathy. A two-way ANOVA tested the independent variables of race and setting on the construct of Seriousness. Results of the ANOVA indicated that there were significant differences in race. Regression models were used to analyze the second research question. The results of a four-predictor model comprised on Seriousness, Empathy, Response, and Efficacy in Classroom Management was significant. However, the classroom management subscale of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy) was not found to be a significant predictor in the model.

An Initial Examination of Teachers' Beliefs and Behaviors in Response to the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management

An Initial Examination of Teachers' Beliefs and Behaviors in Response to the Incredible Years Teacher Classroom Management PDF Author: Taylor Hicks-Hoste
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781369372380
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description


A Study of Utah Teachers' Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs and Practices as Related to Perceptions of Kindergarteners' Successful School Entry

A Study of Utah Teachers' Developmentally Appropriate Beliefs and Practices as Related to Perceptions of Kindergarteners' Successful School Entry PDF Author: Mary McEuen Darnell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This study was an exploration of 450 Utah kindergarten teachers' perceptions of problems children face at the time of kindergarten entry, as well as an examination of the teachers' developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices. Consistent with previous research, teachers' beliefs were found to be more developmentally appropriate than their reported practices. This study also investigated the relationship between both teacher and classroom/school demographics and teachers' developmentally appropriate beliefs and practices. Further, the relationship between teachers' perceptions of children's transition to kindergarten and beliefs, practices, teacher demographics, and classroom/school demographics studied. Study findings indicated that teachers perceive 20% of kindergarten children as experiencing a difficult school entry, with some teachers reporting 100% of their class as having a difficult entry into kindergarten. Teachers reported 25% of children as not being ready for kindergarten, with about 20% of teachers judging at least half of their class as not being ready, and an additional 7 % of teachers estimating that 75% or more of their class was not ready for kindergarten. "Lack of academic skills" was the item perceived as the least problematic at kindergarten entry. Findings also exhibited a trend that teachers with more appropriate beliefs perceived a higher percentage of children experiencing very successful entry than did teachers with less appropriate beliefs. Special education and early childhood licensed teachers, as well as those who had received their ESL endorsement, consistently judged "half or more" of their class as having a number of transition problems, including "problems with social skills," as well as "difficulty communicating/language problems," and not having a "non-academic preschool experience." Overall, as the percentage of special education children enrolled increased, and the number of children qualifying for free lunch increased, teachers perceived more children as not ready for school. Limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

School Readiness and the Transition to Kindergarten in the Era of Accountability

School Readiness and the Transition to Kindergarten in the Era of Accountability PDF Author: Robert C. Pianta
Publisher: Brookes Publishing Company
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
More than 30 highly respected experts contribute cutting-edge information to give readers a comprehensive look at early education and kindergarten transition.;;

Preschool Teachers' Beliefs about Classroom Practices and how Preschool Students Learn

Preschool Teachers' Beliefs about Classroom Practices and how Preschool Students Learn PDF Author: Rebecca Rose Lutonsky
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
The researcher in this study investigated how preschool teachers' beliefs about teaching practice, children, and discipline and behavior management related to the preschool teachers' level of education, type of teaching certification, years of teaching experience, and race. The method consisted of each preschool teacher completing the Teacher Belief Q-Sort (TBQ), either in an online format, or by using a paper and pencil form of the measure. The TBQ was chosen to reduce preschool teacher bias by having teachers rank order their priorities concerning their teaching practices. The data were the teachers' rank-ordered responses to the TBQ measure. The data were analyzed using Chronbach alpha statistical analysis techniques. The results indicated low internal consistency among the various types of teacher beliefs. The researcher concluded social desirability may be one reason internal consistency was low. Additionally, regional cultural differences in how preschool teachers approach behavior management could be a factor. Preschool teachers who participated in this study reside in the southern region of the United States. Many adults in this area of the country hold traditional values for how children should be treated, especially in regards to how they should be disciplined and punished. These traditional values sometimes clash with research findings on the types of adult-child interactions foster optimal child development. It is possible the preschool teachers in this study held some more "progressive, enlightened" beliefs about the practice of teaching and how to treat children regarding discipline and behavior management. However, these preschool teachers may also have held traditional beliefs, which resulted in wide variability to item answers on a scale measuring these types of beliefs. Furthermore, preschool teachers may have answered some items honestly and other items in a way which makes them look favorably to funding or licensing agencies. The researcher further concluded that besides the existing data on the TBQ, additional research with the TBQ is needed to establish the measure's internal consistency, reliability, and validity.

Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Assessment and Improvement of Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care: A World-Wide Kaleidoscope

Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Assessment and Improvement of Quality in Early Childhood Education and Care: A World-Wide Kaleidoscope PDF Author: Antonia Elisabeth Enikoe Baumeister
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2832549306
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
The key aims of early childhood education and care (ECEC) are to offer children from all social backgrounds a good start in their lives, to support parenting as well as families’ workforce participation, and, thereby, to sustainably strengthen the national economy over current and future generations. High-quality ECEC has been shown to improve child outcomes and be a buffer against developmental risk factors. For these reasons, governments, ECEC providers, and researchers are placing an increasing focus on the frameworks and systems that underpin quality as well as the measures that assess quality. At the same time, however, research on ECEC as a multidisciplinary endeavor has shown that the aims and benefits of high-quality ECEC can only be reached when all stakeholders’ needs are acknowledged and sufficiently met. For example, recent evidence suggests that the acceptability and social validity of quality assessment and improvement methods are contested among some stakeholders, and thus, the sustainability of these quality efforts may be in doubt. New challenges also include the ever-changing nature and circumstances affecting ECEC stakeholders, for example, the greater flows of refugee families and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. This Frontiers Research Topic will contribute to an updated knowledge base in order to inform governments, providers, and the scientific community about best practices and new solutions for conceptualizing, measuring, and improving ECEC quality. The aim of the proposed Research Topic is to generate a worldwide kaleidoscope of research studies that explore and discuss models for gathering the perspectives of multiple stakeholders and considering the meaningfulness of stakeholder views for conceptualizing, assessing, and improving quality in ECEC. We believe that greater attention needs to be given to the diversity of stakeholders who are invested in ECEC, including government regulatory authorities, service providers, educators, families, communities, and children. We also believe that wide-ranging stakeholder input will generate innovative methods for assessing and improving quality that keep pace with our rapidly changing information society. Two further foci are set on ECEC practices: (1.) that support participation, diversity, and inclusion of all children and families and (2.) that are suitable for developing countries and diverse populations within countries. In this, the focus is not only on best practices but also on the limitations of practices. In soliciting research articles on ECEC stakeholder perspectives, we describe stakeholders as inclusive of government/non-government regulatory agencies, service providers, teachers and caregivers, families, communities, and children. Themes of interest include but are not limited to: • Assessment of quality in ECEC, including self-assessment approaches; • The design of and use of quality frameworks in ECEC; • Effects of quality and of quality improvement on children and families; • Drivers and indicators of quality improvement; • Acceptance and sustainability of quality efforts among ECEC stakeholders; • Policy expectations of quality rating and improvement systems (e.g., funding policy); • The role of teacher and caregiver professionalization; • All types of center-based and home-based ECEC. We are interested both in quantitative and qualitative research designs as well as in mixed-methods research. Cross-sectional, longitudinal, (quasi-)experimental and case study designs are welcome. The following article types are welcome: original research, empirical studies, systematic reviews, community case studies, policy briefs articles, and brief research reports.

The Effects of the Classroom Schedule and Teacher Beliefs on Head Start Teacher-child Interactions

The Effects of the Classroom Schedule and Teacher Beliefs on Head Start Teacher-child Interactions PDF Author: Margaret McMannr Holley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
Time can be examined from several viewpoints in the early childhood classroom: wasted wait time; instruction which is undifferentiated or not on the child's cognitive level, missing the child's target learning needs; the source and control of the classroom schedule; children's perceptions of time; and the current trend to maintain a rigid time schedule because of accountability demands. This study investigated Head Start preschool programs in a large midwestern urban area using an analysis of teacher beliefs and the classroom schedule. The instruments used to measure predictor variables were the Teacher Beliefs Scale (TBS) and Evaluation of the Early Childhood Classroom Schedule (EECCS); and the outcome variables were measured by observation with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System - PreK (CLASS) and the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (InCLASS). Thirty four teachers and 89 children participated. Correlation and hierarchical multiple regression were computed to assess the strength of Time can be examined from several viewpoints in the early childhood classroom: wasted wait time; instruction which is undifferentiated or not on the child's cognitive level, missing the child's target learning needs; the source and control of the classroom schedule; children's perceptions of time; and the current trend to maintain a rigid time schedule because of accountability demands. This study investigated Head Start preschool programs in a large midwestern urban area using an analysis of teacher beliefs and the classroom schedule. The instruments used to measure predictor variables were the Teacher Beliefs Scale (TBS) and Evaluation of the Early Childhood Classroom Schedule (EECCS); and the outcome variables were measured by observation with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System - PreK (CLASS) and the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (InCLASS). Thirty four teachers and 89 children participated. Correlation and hierarchical multiple regression were computed to assess the strength of Time can be examined from several viewpoints in the early childhood classroom: wasted wait time; instruction which is undifferentiated or not on the child's cognitive level, missing the child's target learning needs; the source and control of the classroom schedule; children's perceptions of time; and the current trend to maintain a rigid time schedule because of accountability demands. This study investigated Head Start preschool programs in a large midwestern urban area using an analysis of teacher beliefs and the classroom schedule. The instruments used to measure predictor variables were the Teacher Beliefs Scale (TBS) and Evaluation of the Early Childhood Classroom Schedule (EECCS); and the outcome variables were measured by observation with the Classroom Assessment Scoring System - PreK (CLASS) and the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (InCLASS). Thirty four teachers and 89 children participated. Correlation and hierarchical multiple regression were computed to assess the strength of the relationships between the predictor and criterion variables. Research question 1 asked how teacher's learner-centered use of time in the early childhood classroom, (EECCS), was related to Head Start classroom interactions and child engagement, (CLASS and inCLASS). Results indicated that EECCS was not a statistically significant predictor of CLASS scores or inCLASS scores. Research question 2 asked how teacher beliefs, (TBS), were related to Head Start classroom teacher-child interactions (CLASS), and Head Start classroom teacher-child, peer-peer, and child-material interactions, (inCLASS). No statistically significant results were found. Research question 3 asked how the early childhood classroom schedule moderated the relationship between developmentally appropriate teacher beliefs and Head Start Classroom interactions. No statistically significant results were found. Supplementary analyses were performed with activity settings and yielded several significant findings. Statistically significant changes were found for all instruments from fall to spring. Teacher beliefs and the classroom schedule were statistically significantly correlated. This study will also add to the body of literature a connection between teacher child interactions (CLASS) and child engagement with teachers, peers and tasks (inCLASS)

A Needs Assessment of Teacher Beliefs and PBIS Practices in Early Childhood

A Needs Assessment of Teacher Beliefs and PBIS Practices in Early Childhood PDF Author: Stephanie Ocwieja
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Behavior therapy for children
Languages : en
Pages : 118

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Book Description
"A review of the still-emerging literature surrounding early childhood Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) suggests that certain contextual factors, including teacher demographics and beliefs, can impact the successful implementation, fidelity, and long-term sustainability of PBIS practices within an early childhood program. In conducting the current needs assessment, the stakeholders of a universal 4K program already implementing PBIS wanted to better understand how these factors were related to the teacher perceptions of implementation of PBIS practices across classrooms. In so doing, they could better target professional development and coaching efforts for their staff, and could use this initial survey as a benchmark against which to measure future growth. Overall, the needs assessment identified that early career teachers reported less confidence in their classroom management skills, but that this belief did not appear to impact their perceived levels of PBIS implementation in the classroom. Instead, teacher beliefs about whether or not behavior can be altered by environmental factors and influenced by teachers were more indicative of perceived PBIS implementation levels. By identifying these relationships between educator traits and beliefs, as well as the areas of strength and future growth within the program and among staff groups, recommendations were made so that the program could target specific sub-groups of teachers and support the increase of specific skills or beliefs in their future professional development efforts." -iii-iv

Early Childhood Education and Care Practitioners' Beliefs and Perceptions about Preschool Children's Risky Play

Early Childhood Education and Care Practitioners' Beliefs and Perceptions about Preschool Children's Risky Play PDF Author: Chelsie Yokum
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Risk and challenge in children's play have steadily declined over the last 30 years due to adult fears about injuries and litigation, among other factors. This societal trend is important to remedy because not only do children miss out on the numerous crucial benefits in every domain that play, and specifically risk and challenge in play, provides, but research suggests it also can lead to a host of other problems like childhood obesity, more injuries as children create their own risk and challenge in inappropriate ways, and childhood psychopathology. Data on children in care demonstrate a large number of children enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs today, therefore it is important to understand young children's risky play in the education context and the role that early childhood practitioners play in either supporting or hindering that play. The present study used an original survey derived from the literature to examine early childhood practitioners' beliefs and perceptions about preschool children's risky play, practitioner's risky play practices, and the factors that influence those beliefs and practices. The results showed that practitioners generally had more positive than negative beliefs about risky play, but only rarely or occasionally allowed risky play to occur in their classrooms or centers. A variety of both global and situational factors influenced practitioners' decisions to allow risky play or not. Participants' beliefs and practices were positively correlated, and beliefs and practices were both negatively correlated with influences. Numbers of years of experience in the field and education level were not found to be significant predictors of participants' risky play beliefs and practices. These results have implications for professional development trainings as well as teacher education programs.

International Handbook of Research on Teachers' Beliefs

International Handbook of Research on Teachers' Beliefs PDF Author: Helenrose Fives
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113626583X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 515

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Book Description
Teacher beliefs play a fundamental role in the education landscape. Nevertheless, most educational researchers only allude to teacher beliefs as part of a study on other subjects. This book fills a necessary gap by identifying the importance of research on teacher beliefs and providing a comprehensive overview of the topic. It provides novices and experts alike a single volume with which to understand a complex research landscape. Including a review of the historical foundations of the field, this book identifies current research trends, and summarizes the current knowledge base regarding teachers’ specific beliefs about content, instruction, students, and learning. For its innumerable applications within the field, this handbook is a necessity for anyone interested in educational research.