Preparing Teachers for the Early Childhood Classroom

Proven Models and Key Principles
Home Early Childhood
Preparing Teachers for the Early Childhood Classroom
Susan B. Neuman, Ed.D., Michael L. Kamil, Ph.D.
Early Childhood
Administrators-find out what really works in professional development for early childhood educators. Combining insights from eight top-performing professional development programs, this book helps readers take the first critical steps toward improved training practices.
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STOCK NUMBER ISBN
70816 978-1-59857-081-6
COPYRIGHT PAGES
2010 272
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For early childhood educators, high-quality professional development can have an enormous positive impact on teaching practices—and boost young children's outcomes and school readiness. But since early childhood teachers come from diverse backgrounds and educational levels, it can be a challenge to create effective, customized professional development programs for them. This is the book administrators and program directors need to meet that challenge and take the first critical steps toward improving their training practices.

Bringing together lessons learned from the eight top-performing programs to receive professional development grants from the Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program in the U.S. Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, this book gives readers a valuable inside look at what's really working today. Program directors and administrators will fully explore the who, what, when, where, and how of high-quality, practice-based professional development:

  • Who benefits from it? Examine characteristics of the early educator workforce and how to address their obstacles to professional development participation, such as financial resources, education levels, and burnout rates.
  • What practices are promising? Explore proven models for choosing the right content, scaffolding skills through coaching and mentoring, and promoting effective professional development across whole communities.
  • Where should professional development happen? Learn from successful approaches in community colleges, training programs, and culturally diverse centers.
  • When and for how long should it take place? Make sound decisions about the duration and timing of professional development.
  • How do you know it's working? Discover the best ways to assess early childhood educators' practices and monitor fidelity of implementation.

Throughout the book, cutting-edge research blends with vignettes and case studies from the eight successful programs-ideal models that readers can use as a starting point to improve their own practices.

A breakthrough resource that will change the way early childhood educators are trained, this book will help programs lay the important groundwork for better professional development, better teachers, and better outcomes for all young children.

This book is part of the NCRECE series.

About the Editors
Contributors
Foreword
Dorothy S. Strickland
Preface
Susan B. Neuman
Acknowledgments

  1. A Comprehensive Perspective on Early Childhood: Educator Professional Development
    Michael L. Kamil

I. Who Are Early Childhood Educators: Understanding the Needs, Challenges, and Opportunities

  1. Emerging Research on Early Childhood Professional Development
    Martha Zaslow, Kathryn Tout, Tamara Halle, Jessica E. Vick Whittaker, & Bridgett Lavelle
  2. Beyond Babysitting: Challenges and Opportunities in Early Childhood Education
    Shira M. Peterson & Connie Valk

II. What Practices Are Promising

  1. Choosing Content
    Richard G. Lambert, Annette Sibley, & Robert Lawrence
  2. Coaching: It's Not Just for Little League
    Sarah Jo Sandefur, Amye R. Warren, Anne B. Gamble, Jenny M. Holcombe, & Heather K. Hicks
  3. Mentoring: More Than a Promising Strategy
    Annette Sibley, Robert Lawrence, & Richard G. Lambert
  4. Participatory Action Research: An Effective Methodology for Promoting Community-Based Professional Development
    Amy C. Baker & Shira M. Peterson

III. Where Does Professional Development Occur?

  1. Professional Development in the Community College Setting
    Susan M. Doescher & Jennifer Knapp Beudert
  2. Professional Development in Training Programs
    Jacqueline Hawkins, Courtney Crim, Jenifer Thornton, & Amye R. Warren
  3. Professional Development in Culturally Diverse Settings
    Renee Rubin, John A. Sutterby, & James V. Hoffman

IV. When to Do It and How Do You Know It's Working

  1. Beyond How Much: What We Are Learning About Structuring Effective Early Childhood Professional Development
    Tamara Halle, Martha Zaslow, Kathryn Tout, Rebecca Starr, Julia Wessel, & Meagan McSwiggan
  2. Measuring Early Childhood Educators' Instruction Practices and Interactions
    Amye R. Warren, Jenny Holcombe, Sarah Jo Sandefur, Anne Gamble, & Heather K. Hicks
  3. Online Logs: A Tool to Monitor Fidelity of Implementation in Large-Scale Interventions
    Tanya S. Wright
  4. The Research We Have; The Research We Need
    Susan B. Neuman

Glossary
Index

Reviews

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Reviews

: Midwest Book Review Education Shelf - November 30, 2010
November 2010 Bookwatch
: Spotlight on Language, Literacy, and Literature, Fall 2010 - November 30, 2010
newsletter of the ASCD Network
: New Books column, Young Children, September 2010 - September 8, 2010
book overview
Ivelisse Martinez-Beck, Senior Social Science Research Analyst, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, US Department of Health and Human Services - June 8, 2010
Addresses critical topics on the professional development of early childhood teaching staff, advancing our understanding of areas where more attention is needed.
Pamela Winton, Senior Scientist and Director of Outreach, FPG Child Development Institute; Research Professor, School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - April 21, 2010
This volume is timely because of the intense focus on teacher quality across all early childhood sectors . . . [it] covers the major issues faced by those with the daunting task of creating early childhood professional development systems.
Virginia Buysse, Senior Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - April 13, 2010
Finally, a reliable source that synthesizes the best available research evidence on all aspects of professional development in early childhood—who the early educators are, what practices are most promising, and the methods for implementing and evaluating it in various contexts.

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