ERIC Number: EJ789731
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Jan
Pages: 21
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1082-4669
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Preschool Student Learning in Literacy and Mathematics: Impact of Teacher Experience, Qualifications, and Beliefs on an At-Risk Sample
Brown, E. Todd; Molfese, Victoria J.; Molfese, Peter
Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, v13 n1 p106-126 Jan 2008
Few studies investigating the impacts of teacher characteristics and beliefs about the importance of early skill learning have included measures of children's learning outcomes. This study investigated how teachers' educational attainment, experience, and beliefs impact the development of letter identification and number concepts (enumeration, cardinality, and numeral identification). One hundred thirty-eight 4-year-old children from low-income homes attending public preschool programs were the focus of a study based on findings that early learning is impacted by family characteristics and teachers' perceptions of children's eagerness to learn (West, Denton, & Germino Hausken, 2000). Children's skills were assessed fall and spring, with more change found in spring measures of letter identification than in measures of number concept skills. Teachers' educational attainment was found to strongly influence development of letter identification, with teacher experience a weaker influence. For number concepts, teacher education and experience were equivalent influences. Teachers' beliefs about literacy and mathematics were weakly related to children's learning outcomes, but added to the variance accounted for beyond the influence of teacher education and experience in the development of numeral recognition. More information is needed from studies focusing on children learning across the school year on how structural and process features influence young children's learning. (Contains 6 tables.)
Descriptors: Teacher Characteristics, Family Characteristics, Educational Attainment, Alphabets, Number Concepts, Teaching Experience, Preschool Children, Literacy, Mathematics Skills, Teacher Attitudes, High Risk Students, Low Income, Student Evaluation, Teacher Education, Outcomes of Education
Lawrence Erlbaum. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/default.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A