- University of Colorado Denver, Early Childhood Education, Faculty Memberadd
Research Interests:
This study examines the Denver Preschool Program (DPP), a voter-approved sales tax initiative that provides a tuition credit for four-year old children to attend preschool. Using propensity weighting and doubly robust modeling on ten... more
This study examines the Denver Preschool Program (DPP), a voter-approved sales tax initiative that provides a tuition credit for four-year old children to attend preschool. Using propensity weighting and doubly robust modeling on ten cohorts of kindergartners from 2009-2010 through 2018-2019, we found DPP participants were more likely to read at grade level and less likely to be retained or to be chronically absent than their similarly-situated non-DPP peers. The absolute magnitude of the effect sizes for reading achievement and chronic absenteeism ranged from 0.21 to 0.28, and were considered substantively important. The relationships were stronger for DPP participants who had enrolled in a school-based, pre-kindergarten program than DPP participants who had enrolled in a community-based preschool, and the effect sizes were almost twice as large for pre-kindergarten participants than for community-based participants on reading achievement. Policy implications are discussed.
Research Interests:
Research Findings: This study examined the job demands and job resources of a sample of 273 early childhood teachers in Colorado. The study explored the relationships among their job demands and resources, occupational burn-out, and... more
Research Findings: This study examined the job demands and job resources of a sample of 273 early childhood teachers in Colorado. The study explored the relationships among their job demands and resources, occupational burn-out, and turnover intentions using a two-level mediated model. Study find-ings suggest that teachers’ emotional exhaustion and depersonalization from the work is a function of lack of job control, lack of collegial relation-ships within the program, and children’s behaviors that they perceived to be challenging. However, teachers also reported being more fulfilled with their work when they worked in programs in which there was a shared vision and that allowed for greater job control. Additionally, teachers who earned lower wages, held a postsecondary degree, reported greater emotional exhaustion, and who expressed less of a shared vision with their organization were more likely to indicate intentions to leave their job. Higher levels of collegiality were indirectly related to lower turnover intentions via lower levels of emotional exhaustion among teachers. Policy or Practice: Study findings can be used to inform leadership development, teacher professional development, and workforce compensation policy to foster greater organizational health, to improve teacher well-being, and to promote teacher retention.
A B S T R A C T Increasingly, states establish different thresholds on the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised (ECERS–R), and use these thresholds to inform high-stakes decisions. However, the validity of the ECERS-R for... more
A B S T R A C T Increasingly, states establish different thresholds on the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale–Revised (ECERS–R), and use these thresholds to inform high-stakes decisions. However, the validity of the ECERS-R for these purposes is not well established. The objective of this study is to identify thresholds on the ECERS-R that are associated with preschool-aged children's social and cognitive development. Applying non-parametric modeling to the nationally-representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) dataset, we found that once classrooms achieved a score of 3.4 on the overall ECERS-R composite score, there was a leveling-off effect, such that no additional improvements to children's social, cognitive, or language outcomes were observed. Additional analyses found that ECERS-R subscales that focused on teaching and caregiving processes, as opposed to the physical environment, did not show leveling-off effects. The findings suggest that the usefulness of the ECERS-R for discerning associations with children's outcome may be limited to certain score ranges or subscales.
Research Interests:
Research Findings: Although there has been considerable research on the associations between the qualifications of teachers in center-based settings and preschool-age children’s developmental outcomes, very little is known about the... more
Research Findings: Although there has been considerable research on the associations between the qualifications of teachers in center-based settings and
preschool-age children’s developmental outcomes, very little is known about
the relationships between home provider qualifications and the developmental
outcomes of toddlers who attend licensed family child care settings or unregulated
family, friend, and neighbor care settings. Analyzing a sample of toddlers
and their providers drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth
Cohort, we found positive relationships between home-based quality and
higher education degree (defined as an associate’s degree or at least a bachelor’s
degree), field ofmajor, and coursework in early childhood education or a related
field. However, provider qualifications were unrelated to children’s cognitive
outcomes and related to a limited number of social-emotional outcomes.
Practice or Policy: Our results suggest that as states consider the spectrum of
supports needed for strengthening home-based child care in ways that facilitate
responsive and developmentally supportive caregiving, strategies should
include opportunities for home-based care providers to pursue higher education.
A more nuanced analysis of the content and comprehensiveness of providers’
formal education is needed to better understand relationships between
toddlers’ social and cognitive development and providers’ formal education.
preschool-age children’s developmental outcomes, very little is known about
the relationships between home provider qualifications and the developmental
outcomes of toddlers who attend licensed family child care settings or unregulated
family, friend, and neighbor care settings. Analyzing a sample of toddlers
and their providers drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth
Cohort, we found positive relationships between home-based quality and
higher education degree (defined as an associate’s degree or at least a bachelor’s
degree), field ofmajor, and coursework in early childhood education or a related
field. However, provider qualifications were unrelated to children’s cognitive
outcomes and related to a limited number of social-emotional outcomes.
Practice or Policy: Our results suggest that as states consider the spectrum of
supports needed for strengthening home-based child care in ways that facilitate
responsive and developmentally supportive caregiving, strategies should
include opportunities for home-based care providers to pursue higher education.
A more nuanced analysis of the content and comprehensiveness of providers’
formal education is needed to better understand relationships between
toddlers’ social and cognitive development and providers’ formal education.
Responding to the current national concern for enhanced commitments to early education, this book examines what states are currently doing, what has proven effective, and what the existing body of knowledge offers educators, policymakers,... more
Responding to the current national concern for enhanced commitments to early education, this book examines what states are currently doing, what has proven effective, and what the existing body of knowledge offers educators, policymakers, and others seeking successful approaches to governance. Featuring chapters by prominent, thoughtful scholars and practitioners, this is the first volume to specifically focus on early childhood governance. Reflective and prospective, this seminal contribution is designed to be immediately germane to the burgeoning field of ECE. Readers will find the latest thinking, the most recent experiences, and an honest review of the governance issues facing ECE today and into the future—all in one resource.
Research Interests:
As part of a longitudinal study, the authors interviewed 73 nontraditional students regarding their perceptions of the challenges experienced and supports received as they returned to school to earn bachelor’s degrees. All participants... more
As part of a longitudinal study, the authors interviewed 73 nontraditional students regarding their perceptions of the challenges experienced and supports received as they returned to school to earn bachelor’s degrees. All participants were working in the early care and education field. Interviewees perceived the cohort structure of their B.A. program as important to their academic success; this positive assessment increased over time and continued after graduation. A majority reported that program services such as financial assistance and the scheduling and location of classes were critically important throughout their participation in the degree programs. In contrast, academic and technological challenges reportedly decreased over time, and thus students’ need for support such as tutoring, counseling services, and technology assistance decreased. Many students whose primary language was not English reported relying on English-language assistance throughout their school experience even when they perceived English academic work to be increasingly less challenging. These findings suggest that those who design and implement programs to assist degree attainment should invest in academic supports at the beginning of the program while other supports, including financial assistance, the schedule and location of classes, and the cohort itself, are critical throughout students’ educational experience.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This book describes the ways in which the mentoring terrain in early care and education has changed over the last two decades, and the multiple contexts in which mentoring now occurs. It offers mentors, coaches, and/or technical... more
This book describes the ways in which the mentoring terrain in early care and education has changed over the last two decades, and the multiple contexts in which mentoring now occurs. It offers mentors, coaches, and/or technical assistance providers an effective, activity-based way to reflect on, practice, and sharpen skills for working with early childhood practitioners, and it can be adapted to a wide variety of early care and education settings.