Early Childhood Professional Development and Classroom Quality in Preschool Classrooms

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between different types of early childhood professional development and child care quality in preschool classrooms. Participants in the study were preschool teachers in 336 child care centers in Oklahoma. Classroom observations, director interviews, and teacher and director demographic questionnaires were used. The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale (ECERS) was used to collect classroom observation data. The variables for this study included formal early childhood education, workshops, systematic workshops, credentials, and accessing of the infrastructure. Correlation procedures and a multiple stepwise regression were used to test and examine the variables. The types of professional development were found to be correlated with each other. The regression equation for the overall model was significant. Specialized education was significant and the results suggested that this type of education makes a difference in terms of child care quality.